A Family's Faith
by charmings88
Summary: Post-Wicked Witch of the West Storyline. Charming and Emma have been working hard at solving all the problems caused by the Wicked Witch of the West. They were just starting to get things back to normal, when someone turns up to try to destroy their happiness once again.
1. Separated

**Title: A Family's Faith**

**Disclaimer: **_**Once Upon A Time **_**and its characters belong to Eddie Kitsis and Adam Horowitz and are owned by ABC. Not Mine! **

**Warning: K+ (For future content – not necessarily in this chapter) **

**Author's Note: Chapter 1! Just to let any of my followers of Love is Strength story know that I haven't abandoned it, but will just be writing these two stories simultaneously! :) This is a new idea I had and I am not quite sure where I am going with it just yet, but I hope you like it so far! Any reviews or ideas are welcomed! **

Premise: This story takes place post the Wicked Witch of West storyline and everyone is back in Storybrooke. Charming and Emma are once again working together as the Storybrooke's police. It's been about a month after everyone was reunited and things have been a bit crazy for the residents of Storybrooke (like normal). Charming and Emma have been working hard at solving all the problems caused by the Wicked Witch of the West. They were just starting to get things back to normal, when someone turns up to try to destroy their happiness once again.

"_Wherever you are, I will always find you." –Prince Charming_

"_I told you I would find you. No matter what you do. I will always find you." – Prince Charming _

"_If you need anything." – Prince Charming_

"_You'll find me." –Snow White_

"_Always." - Prince Charming_

**Separated**

"Emma!"

Emma wasn't sure why her father was yelling her name so fiercely, but it sounded like he was worried. She just wanted to sleep a while longer especially because she has a terrible headache.

"Emma. You need to wake up now."

She could feel him trying to shake her awake and that's when she realized that she wasn't on her comfy bed, but on something rough and rather uncomfortable, almost like she was laying on the ground. She slowly opens her eyes to see David, staring anxiously down at her.

"What's going on?" Emma said as she starts to take in her surroundings, seeing that they are in some kind of a forest with a bunch of debris around them. This wasn't Storybrooke. "Where are we?" Emma asked in a weary voice, hoping that she was wrong and this was just the forest in Storybrooke.

"The Enchanted Forest." Charming said, for once sounding rather old and tired. For once he wouldn't mind not having to search for his family or have to try to get back to his family, but here he was again, having to find his way back to his family.

It all was coming back to her, King George had been hiding for weeks after being brought back to Storybrooke by the curse from the Wicked Witch of the West. They were able to overcome the Witch. King George was the least of their worries since they got back, but he decided to show up today with another way to cause her father to suffer the same pain he went through. King George had pulled out a magic bean and threw it at Emma's feet. Emma believes that he might have been trying to just send her through the portal, but her father of course went to help her. She started to fall, but David was able to grab her and drag her away from the portal, but not before the floor underneath her fell. David caught her hand and almost had her to safety when King George knocked David so that he would either let go of Emma or fall in with her. They both ended up falling through the portal.

Emma could see that her father was just as disappointed as she was about being separated from their family again. After everything their family has been through, you would think that at some point they could just be with each other and not have to worry about being separated.

"Are you okay?" Charming asked, looking Emma over for any injuries. He could tell that she was remembering all that had happen and realizing that they once again had to find their family again.

"Yeah, yeah. I am fine." Emma said even though her head was pounding and her body felt sore from the fall. They had more important things to worry about.

Charming nodded and helped Emma up. Charming could tell that she was not telling the truth because over the last few years he has gotten to know his daughter pretty well to know when she is telling the truth or not. This time he lets it go because besides hitting her head, she seemed like she was fine.

"What are we going to do?" Emma asked as she looked around seeing nothing, but the forest.

"First, we need to figure out where we are in the Enchanted Forest and then we need to set up camp. It is going to get dark in a couple of hours." Charming responded confidently.

"Okay. Lead the way." Emma said feeling rather glad that her father had come with her through the portal because if the last time was any example, she didn't do very well in the Enchanted Forest. It was foreign to her in many aspects, but luckily for her the last time she had her mother and this time her father. She would never openly admit that she needed them, but she really didn't know this place even if she had been born in it. It was a comfort to her that her father seemed to know what to do. She just wished she could be of some help, but she really had no clue where they were and how they were going to set up camp when they had nothing to set up.

Charming gave Emma a soft smile, knowing that she felt uncomfortable and out of her element when it came to the Enchanted Forest. "It's okay, Emma. We will get back to them." Charming said and then they started to walk through the forest. He had his daughter to take care of and a family to get back to. If there was one thing he knew how to do, it was to find his family.

Emma nodded. It was still hard for her come to terms with the fact that their family always finds each other, but they have always found each other so maybe this time would be the same. Oddly enough, Emma was beginning to have faith in their little motto of always finding each other, but it was still hard to be that positive. Mostly she trusted her parents' faith. "I know." Emma said.

"When we do get back to your mother and Henry, your mom is going to be a little angry that we missed her big dinner she was planning for tonight." Charming said with a humorless chuckled as he tried to lighten the mood.

"Oh, why did you have to bring that up? I am starving." Emma said as she groaned. She really hoped that Chimera wasn't on the menu during this excursion in the Enchanted Forest. She didn't care for whatever food that was.

Charming chuckled at Emma's expression. If there was one thing that wasn't a secret, it was that Emma loved food and the food in the Enchanted Forest didn't quite compare to the food at home. Charming put his arm around Emma as they walked. "I am truly sorry that you are missing such a great meal, but I might be able to find you some Chimera." Charming said with a mischievous grin, which turned into a laugh as he saw Emma's horrified expression at the mention of Chimera, her least favorite food from the Enchanted Forest.

"Seriously? You know how I hate that stuff, whatever it is." Emma complained as she gave Charming an annoyed glare.

"It is part lion, part serpent, and part goat. It's actually not that bad." Charming teased Emma as he tried to control his laughter.

Emma gave him a disgusted look. "That's gross. Why would I want to eat it after knowing what was in it? I believe that is why I didn't try it in the _first_ place."

"Okay. I guess Chimera is off the menu." Charming said with a smirk.

"Good." Emma said with a small grin as they continued to walk through the forest with her father's arm around her shoulders.

They walked for about 2 hours, but to Emma it seemed like it was much longer. Her legs were sore from the trek and wondered how her parents use to do this all the time. Walking or riding horses instead of being able to use cars must have been rough. She was following her father who was about 15 feet ahead of her. He seemed like he had an idea of where they were going, but she was beginning to wonder as the time passed. You would think they would have been somewhere by now, but they were still in the middle of the forest. She wasn't sure if she could do this much longer, when her dad stopped and turned around to face her.

"I am going to climb one of these trees to see if I can see where we are. Just wait here for me." Charming said not wanting Emma to get lost in the woods especially knowing that she didn't have much of a sense of direction. Plus he wasn't sure what was in these woods and he wanted her to be close to him so that he could jump down and help her if she needed it. He wished he had his sword as well because the guns they had weren't going to do them much good here especially if there were any ogres around.

"I'll be fine." Emma said annoyed at her father's overprotectiveness.

"Just don't wander off." Charming said in a tired, yet firm voice.

"I can take care of myself." Emma replied, not liking what he was implying.

"I know you can, but we don't know what are in these woods. Anyway, it would be better if we didn't lose each other in this forest." Charming argued with a no nonsense expression that he knew Emma wouldn't try to challenge.

"Ok. I'll stay here, not like there is anywhere else to go anyway." Emma reluctantly agreed, knowing that her father had a good point, but hating feeling dependent on someone else. Although, she had gotten more use to it since she had found her family, it was still something that she had to get use to. She was glad to have her parents back in her life once again because it was nice to have someone to watch out for her, but at times it was just down right annoying.

"Good. I'll be right back." Charming said with a small smile at his victory. He knew that Emma was out of her element, but she tended to try to act like she didn't need help in any situation. He could tell from her eyes that she was uncomfortable about being in the Enchanted Forest and he could tell that she was a little afraid of what they might find.

At this time, Emma had finally caught up with Charming and he could see that she looked really worn out by the hike. "Why don't you rest while I climb the tree? We probably will have to still go a little ways before we make camp." Charming said as he put his hands on each of her arms looking at her concerned.

"How far is a 'little ways?'" Emma asked, her head was still hurting from the fall and she was sore from the walk. She was also afraid that if she sat down, she wouldn't be able to get up again.

Charming just chuckled as started to climb up the tree.

_That can't be good if he won't tell me how long that is. _Emma thinks as she lowers herself to the ground to lean against the tree that her father is climbing. She doesn't understand how he still has energy when she has hardly any left. She wanted to close her eyes, but she figured that she should be keeping watch in case anything comes out of the forest. She really hoped there weren't any ogres hanging out in the forest. Although, she did know that she needs to shot them in the eye because her mother taught her that after a close encounter the last time she was in the Enchanted Forest. Then again, the last time the ogre took the gun out of her hand and crumpled it. She really hoped her dad would hurry up and get back down; she was starting to freak herself out. Plus she was trying really hard to stay awake, but she kept having to force her eyes back open every once in a while.

Charming was able to figure out the general area of where they were and where they needed to head from seeing the land from the top of the tree. He carefully climbed back down the tree. He hadn't heard Emma at all so he assumed that everything must be fine. He jumped down to the ground and found his daughter asleep against the tree. She had been working long hours for the last couple of weeks and had been overly tired that morning so he isn't surprised that she fell asleep once she sat down. He hates to have to wake her up, but they need to get going again. They only have about an hour to an hour and half left of daylight.

"Emma, honey. We have to get going." Charming said as he gently rubbed the sides of Emma's arms up and down.

"I am awake." Emma said as she jerked awake. _Crap I fell asleep. _

Charming smiled and helped her to her feet. "I found out where we are which, if I'm right, we are about one day away from our old place. If we can get to it we may be able to get some supplies, but tonight we will have to make due with what we have and what we can find." Charming said mostly to himself because Emma was still half-asleep.

"More walking?" Emma complained to Charming.

Charming nodded and started walking again, but then called back to Emma. "Only a little bit more tonight."

Emma groaned, but started to follow David through the forest. As they walked, Emma started to wake up more, but then felt the burn in her legs as she continued to walk. She kept thinking that they would stop soon, but they kept going and going.

"Are we stopping soon?" Emma asked knowing that it was coming out a lot whinier then she had planned it to come out, but in all fairness her head was ponding, her legs were beyond sore at this point, and she was exhausted so she deserved to be whiny.

Charming chuckled quietly to himself at the way she was acting like a little kid Then he looked back to see Emma, who had fallen back about 30 feet and was actually looking a little pale. "We are almost there." He waited for her to get caught up with him, which took longer than figured it would. She had slowed down quite a bit. "Are you feeling okay?" Charming asked, as she got closer.

"Yeah, I am fine." Emma lied.

"You don't look fine." Charming said with a frown, but then continued walking as Emma got to him.

They continued to walk side by side for the next ten minutes with David shooting Emma glances every once in a while to make sure she was okay. Just about when Emma thought they would never stop, they got to the edge of the forest.

"We will camp just inside the tree line tonight and then tomorrow we will head to the castle. It will take all day on foot, but we should get there by nightfall." Charming said confidently.

Emma nodded, which she regretted when it caused her headache to get worse. She was glad to be done walking for the day, but she wasn't looking forward to a full day of walking tomorrow.

**Please Review and Let me know what you think! :) **


	2. What's for Dinner?

**Title: A Family's Faith**

**Disclaimer: **_**Once Upon A Time **_**and its characters belong to Eddie Kitsis and Adam Horowitz and are owned by ABC. Not Mine! **

**Warning: K+ (For future content – not necessarily in this chapter) **

**Author's Note: Chapter 2! Sorry this took forever! Let's just say that I laughed a lot as I wrote this chapter…. :) Hope you like it! Thanks for all the reviews on chapter 1! Enjoy! :) **

**What's for Dinner?**

Charming tried to get Emma to sit down and just rest as he got the camp set up, but Emma insisted that she could help. She was picking some berries that he pointed out to her while he was finding wood so that they could build a fire. He could tell that her head was hurting by the way she kept scrunching up her face, but she wouldn't admit that she was feeling poorly. He spotted a stream just outside the forest that might just have some fish in it. At least he hoped it did, because besides the berries, fish was the only other option for dinner, especially with the lack of weapons.

Charming had collected enough wood for the fire and found a nice, strong stick. He was busy sharpening it with his pocketknife when Emma walked back with the berries.

"What are you doing?' Emma asked curiously as she sat down next to her father.

"Making a spear." Charming said through a chuckle at her confused expression. He imagined she would have looked that way when she was a little girl.

"Why?" Emma asked just as confused at before.

"I think that the stream down there may have some fish in it, but I need something to get them with. That's when this comes in handy." Charming said with a grin as he showed her his sharpened stick.

"Oh, okay." Emma smiled. She was quite impressed at her Dad's resourcefulness. She would have never thought of doing that.

"There is two different ways we use to fish. One being the common why with a fishing pole like you are probably familiar with and the other way we called gigging. Normally, we had a multi-pronged spear that we would spear the fish with in the streams…" Charming informed Emma as he continued to sharpen his stick.

Emma just nodded as her father told his little spiel on his fishing techniques. She had noticed over the last little couple of months when they weren't super busy that David tended to give her detail explanations or stories of a multitude of topics whenever they came up in their conversations. She thought it was cute that he was fitting into his dad role and she didn't mind his little informative speeches. Most of the time they were interesting especially if they were about the Enchanted Forest and she also enjoyed listening to her father. Emma smiled as her father continued to tell her about how he use to alternate between using his fishing pole and his spear when he was younger.

"Since we don't have a fishing pole or a gigging spear, this will have to do. Maybe we will have some fish tonight. Well I think that is good enough! You want to come with me or stay here and rest?" Charming asked looking at his daughter concerned.

"I'll come with you, I have to see this." Emma chuckled at the thought of David trying to spear a fish.

Charming smiled as he stood up with his spear and gave Emma a hand up. "You can try it too. Now, there is a proper way to spear a fish…." Charming started to inform his daughter on the proper stance and way to spear a fish as they walked down to the stream.

When Emma and Charming got to the creek, Charming showed Emma how to 'spear a fish,' but didn't actually spear one just yet. Emma try her hardest not to laugh as her father continued to tell her what to do because he looked so funny trying to spear the fish.

"Got one! See I told you!" Charming said with a proud smile as he lifted his spear with the fish stuck to it.

"I have to say, I am impressed." Emma said through a giggled. Although, her head was still hurting, she wouldn't have missed this for the world. She was enjoying herself and could not help, but laugh at her father trying to 'gig' or 'spear' the fish.

"Now, it's your turn." Charming said catching Emma off guard.

Emma hesitated, but then thought she mays well try, especially because her dad was so excited about it. "Okay, I'll try." Emma replied as she too got into the water next to her father.

Charming instructed Emma how to stand and when to stab the fish. "You have to stand really still so that the fish do not realize that you are there." Charming said after her first few attempts failed.

Emma did as she was told and stabbed at a fish. "I got it!" Emma said, excitedly as she showed her dad the fish.

"You did! You are a natural!" Charming said proudly as he gave Emma a side hug and put the fish with the one he caught.

For the next little while, father and daughter took turns trying to spear the fish and ended up catching two more fish. They decided to call it quits because the sun was setting and they had enough for dinner. Emma was exhausted and her head was throbbing, but she ended up having a lot of fun with her dad.

Charming took care of building the fire and cooking the fish, while Emma sat near him with her head leaning on one of her hands. Charming looked over at Emma with concern and asked with a frown, "Is your head still hurting?"

"How did you know?" Emma asked, thinking she was hiding it better than that.

"Because I know you." Charming replied simply with a smile.

"Yes, it still hurts, but it's fine." Emma reluctantly admitted. She was taken back by how well he seemed to know her, not many people have ever really known her besides Neal, Henry, and Mary Margaret, which she came to know as her mom. It was a nice, but weird feeling for her father to know her like that.

"Plus where did you think you inherited your 'Superpower' from?" Charming smirked at Emma.

Emma looked dumbfounded as she processed that information. So her father could tell when she was lying earlier about if she was okay. That would explain his worried glances that he kept giving her all afternoon.

Charming just chuckled as he saw Emma's confused expression as she thought about what he said. Charming then went on to finish cooking the fish.

Emma was impressed at her father's resourcefulness once again when he used bark from the tree for plates. He handed her one of them with one of the cooked fish on it. It wasn't her favorite food, but it was better than Chimera. "Thanks." Emma said with a smile.

"Well, I am not the best cook, but it will fill you up." Charming replied.

"Well I'm pretty sure you are a better cook then I am." Emma replied with a grin. Her idea of cooking was a box of mac n' cheese or microwaved Ramon noodles.

"Oh I know I am." Charming said with a chuckle.

"Hey! You could be a little more nice about it!" Emma said in a mock-offended tone.

"I remember not long ago you tried to make dinner for all of us, but we ended up having to go out to eat instead." Charming replied, but then began to laugh at the memory.

"I followed the instructions, which were obviously wrong or else it would have turned out fine! And I can also remember a time recently that we made dinner together and that didn't turn out good either." Emma said with a smirk.

"It was your idea to make chicken enchiladas. I can only make simple meals. Plus I am pretty you ruined that meal, not me." Charming replied.

"What?! You were in charge of the chicken and YOU burnt it!" Emma almost yelled.

"Ok, ok. I'll admit I burnt it, but you weren't doing any better with the rest of the meal. Remember you enchilada sauce?" Charming said with a smirk.

"That recipe was wrong and it did not tell me to keep stirring the sauce. How was I suppose to know that it would burn?" Emma asked, but then started to laugh at the memory.

Charming just laughed. "Remember when your mother got home, she kicked us both out of the kitchen!" Charming said as he tried to control his laughter.

"We never did get our enchiladas! She just heated up soup." Emma said with a disappointed look. "Then she banned us from the kitchen!" Emma said with a chuckle, but then got a sad far-off look in her eyes as she thought about her mother, Henry and the new addition to their family, her brother.

Charming noticed the change in her expression and knew what she was thinking about, or whom she was thinking about. "We will get back to them, Emma. If there is one thing I know how to do, it's find my family. You just have to have faith." Charming said confidently as he looked over at Emma.

"I know, but I'm not like the rest of you. I'm not use to things turning out okay. It's hard to have faith." Emma said sadly as she looked into the fire.

"Emma. You had faith in Neverland that we would all go back together. If it wasn't for your faith, Snow and I would have probably still been in Neverland. We all have times when our faith is shaken, but that's when we need to remind each other to have faith in our family." Charming said softly and then turned Emma's face towards him. "And Emma you are apart of this family, a very important part and you are more like us then you think." Charming added softly with a smile.

Emma smiled, she didn't know what to say, but it meant a lot to her that her father had faith in her. It even seemed like he was proud of her for having faith when both of her parents seemed to have lost faith while they were in Neverland.

Charming could tell that she was starting to get uncomfortable, so he decided to change the topic. He had noticed that she really hadn't eaten much of the fish and seemed to just be picking at it. "Are you feeling okay?" Charming asked as he felt Emma's forehead.

Emma rolled her eyes, which actually ended up adding to her headache causing her to scrunch up her face in pain. "I'm fine."

Charming shook his head at his daughter's stubbornness. He could tell she was running a slight fever due to her headache and felt pretty terrible. He was sure that after a good night's sleep, she would be feeling a lot better. "Maybe you should turn in for the night." Charming said in a worried expression, as he took Emma's plate from her.

Emma nodded slowly. She really did just want to sleep off the headache, but knew it wasn't going to be a very comfortable night. She remembered sleeping in Neverland and when she was in the Enchanted Forest before with her mother. But unlike those times, this time they didn't have any blankets or anything really.

Charming took off his coat, it wasn't too cold, especially with the fire so he would be fine without it. "Here you can use this for a pillow." Charming said as he gave Emma his coat.

"Thanks, but won't you be cold?" Emma asked as she took the coat.

"No, I'll be fine." Charming replied.

Emma laid down on the ground using Charming's coat as a pillow. It felt good to close her eyes especially after feeling nauseous from the fish. "Goodnight." Emma said quietly as she started to drift off to sleep.

"Goodnight, Emma. Sleep well." Charming said with a smile. Charming watched over Emma while she slept and thought of how they were going to get home to their family. His wife, Snow, must be so worried about them. He wonders if she even knows what happened to them. Charming stroked the fire and added a few more pieces of wood to it before he too decided to turn in for the night.

He was surprised at how fast Emma fell asleep because normally she had a hard time falling asleep when she had to sleep on the ground. She must have been really tired and worn out to fall asleep so quickly. He gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and lightly kissed her forehead. He then laid down as well a couple of feet from Emma to give her some space.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Emma woke up with a start. _What was that? _Emma heard a sound near by that sounded like rustling.. An animal? This is one reason she didn't like sleeping outside, you never knew what animals could be lurking around and she wasn't familiar with the animals in the enchanted forest. There it was again, it sounded closer to here. _Crap. _She quickly sees that her Dad is a foot away from her, she swore she laid down closer to the fire. She must have moved in her sleep closer to David, that would have been embarrassing if he had seen that. She hears the rustling again this time it seems even closer. She sat up fast and looked around for this animal, but saw nothing. "David….Dad." Emma whispered, not quite sure if she really wanted to wake him up over something like this, but she really wasn't sure what the noise was. He didn't wake up maybe that was a good thing.

Emma screamed as something white ran over her legs.

Charming woke up and grabbed for his sword out of habit, which he didn't have. "What's wrong?" David asked as he realized it had been Emma who had screamed and that she was sitting up not far from him.

"Sorry." Emma said sheepishly. "I think it was a bunny. It ran over my legs." Emma added.

Charming chuckled at his daughter's admission. He noticed that she must have moved closer to him in her sleep because she was only about a foot away from him now. "It probably was. Are you okay?" Charming asked in a concerned voice, his daughter seemed a little worked up over the "bunny."

"Yeah. I am fine." Emma said quickly.

"Ok, well we should try to get a couple more hours of sleep before dawn." Charming said with a soft smile.

Emma nodded and laid back down, but she didn't move back to where she was sleeping before. She liked knowing that he was close by, it made her feel safe and protected even if it was just from bunnies.

This didn't go unnoticed by Charming, but he didn't mind. "Goodnight, Em." Charming said softly.

Emma heard the little nickname he just gave her, but was too tired to comment on it.  
"Night, Dad." Emma said in a whisper and then closed her eyes to sleep.

Charming couldn't help, but smile at that word she said once again. _Dad. _She had just recently started to call them Mom and Dad, but would still call them Mary Margaret and David. But every time, she said "Dad" he could hardly hide his joy.

**Please Review!**


	3. Some Dreams Do Come True

**Title: A Family's Faith**

**Disclaimer: **_**Once Upon A Time **_**and its characters belong to Eddie Kitsis and Adam Horowitz and are owned by ABC. Not Mine! **

**Warning: K+ (Fights with swords and guns- minor violence) **

**Author's Note: Chapter 3! I thought we needed to see what is going on in Storybrooke! Sorry if this chapter is a little rough, I reread it a couple of times, but I'm feeling a little sick so I may have missed a few things! Hope you guys like it anyway! Thanks for all the reviews! Enjoy! :) **

**Some Dreams Do Come True**

**Back in Storybrooke – About 8 hours earlier **

Grumpy had called Snow early in the day when he noticed a big hole in the alley with the police cruiser with its lights on, blocking the alley, but no sign of Emma or David. He knew that something must have happen to them and from the looks of the hole it seemed that Emma and David might have gone through a portal.

Snow was beside herself in worry for both her husband and daughter, but she had Henry, her grandson, and her son, Leo, to consider as well. Her son was about 6 and half months old and was quite a handful. She often wondered if Emma was the same way when she was a baby. She needed to stay strong for both her grandson and her son. They would be reunited with their family once again. Their family always found each other and Snow was confident that this time would be no different. They would find each other again.

Now, she just had to figure out how to find her husband and daughter while taking care of her grandson and son. Neal would help out with Henry and so would Regina. Oddly enough, Regina and Snow had bonded a little during the whole Wicked Witch of the West crisis. Also after Neverland, no one could doubt her love and loyalty to Henry.

"Grams, what's going on? Where is Gramps and mom?" Henry asked as he came into the apartment with Neal trailing behind him, it was 6 o'clock and normally his grandpa and mom were already back. Plus his grandma looked worried and hardly noticed them coming into the apartment.

"Oh. Hi, Henry, Neal." Snow greeted the two. "Grumpy just called and said that it looks like David and Emma might have fallen through a portal. We don't know how or where they went, but we will get them back. We always find our family." Snow said more confidently than she felt.

"Oh my goodness." Neal said. He still had feelings for Emma, but Emma wasn't ready for a relationship with anybody right now. It was totally understandable, with everything that had been going on. He wanted to give her space and as much time as she needed. He hated to think that after everything that had happened that she was once again separated from her family. He would do all he could to help find her and her father. Ultimately, he wanted her to be happy and her family was part of her happiness. "Do you have any idea of how it might have happened?"

"They would have needed a portal and neither of them had anything so someone else must have been involved. They had blocked off the alley with the cruiser so they must have chased someone. Who would want to send them through a portal?" Snow asked.

"Could it have been King George?" Henry asked in a worried voice.

"Actually, that would make sense. He is always after taking Charming's happiness away. Is there anyone else that would want to harm them or us?" Snow asked.

"Unless, you and your husband had any more enemies, I can't think of anyone else." Neal answered.

"So it probably was King George." Henry stated. "What are we going to do?"

"We will get them back, Henry." Neal said reassuringly.

"First of all, we need to be safe. If it is King George, he probably will come after us. Second, we have to see if there is anyway to help them get back. I assume they are in the Enchanted Forest. Also we need to find King George and question him." Snow decided.

"I can get my father to help me find King George and then we can question him." Neal offered, he was willing to do anything to help reunite Emma with her family.

"Ok, thanks. Just be careful, Neal." Snow said in a worried voice. She really cared for Neal and she knew that Emma cared for him. She wasn't sure if Emma wanted to get back together with him, but she knew her daughter loved Neal.

"I will be safe with father. Make sure you guys stay safe until we get King George under custody. I don't trust him." Neal said.

"We will. Thanks again, Neal." Snow said.

"Bye, Dad." Henry said as he hugged Neal.

"Bye, Kid. Listen to your grandma. I'll see you sometime tomorrow." Neal replied as he returned the hug.

After Neal left, Henry turned to his Grandma. "What do we do now?"

"I am going to make a few phone calls to see if Grumpy and the other dwarfs can keep a look out for King George or anything else going on in town. Then try to get a hold of the Blue Fairy to see if she can help us." Snow replied. She really wanted to just go and find the Blue Fairy, but she had Henry and Leo to consider. It was just too risky to bring both them out when King George could be looking for them. Plus it would be better to go out when it was daytime.

"My mom might be able to help." Henry suggested. "Or even Rumplestiltskin…I mean Grandpa. That's still weird."

"That's true, if the Blue Fairy can't help us then we will try to see if Regina or Rumple can help us." Snow decided. "Now can you go check on Leo, he probably will be waking up soon and will want to see his nephew." Snow said with a smile.

"Okay!" Henry replied. He wanted to help in any way he could and he loved being around his little 'uncle.'

Snow started calling Grumpy who said that the dwarfs would keep a look out for the scumbag, as Grumpy called King George, and watch out for anything odd. Also they decided that Grumpy and Red would be the stand in sheriff and deputy while Charming and Emma were away. The Blue Fairy didn't have anything to get her family back. Now, she was left with Regina and Rumple, it always seem to come down to them. Hopefully, they could help.

**Enchanted Forest – Next Morning**

Charming didn't want to wake up yet, he was dreaming about being with his family back in Storybrooke. They were having a family night with just Snow, Emma, Henry, Leo and himself. He loved being able to spend time with his family even though those times had been a bit rare considering the craziness that had been the last couple of months. Charming finally opened his eyes and realized that Emma was right next to him, dangerously close to having her head on his shoulder. He didn't mind it, but he knew that she would be embarrassed if she woke up being so close to him. It is funny that she started off sleeping like 3 feet away from him and now was literally right next to him. He knew from Snow that Emma was a bed hog and a really bad one at that. Snow told him in the Enchanted Forest, Emma would always end up sleeping almost on top of Snow. Snow knowing how Emma felt about that sort of thing would move over a little before waking Emma up.

She looked so peaceful and beautiful as she slept. He didn't want to wake her just yet; he knew it took her awhile to fall asleep after her bunny issue. She doesn't like to sleep outside. Although, he figured she would have gotten use to it after Neverland, but then again that was over a year ago now.

He decided to let her sleep for a little while longer while he got ready to go. Before he got up, he very carefully tucked a golden strand of hair behind Emma's ear before kissing her lightly on the forehead.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It didn't take long at all for Charming to get ready. He wasn't looking forward to waking up Emma especially because the sun wasn't even up yet. She would not want to get up. Charming sighed as he looked over to Emma who was sound asleep on the ground, still using his coat for a pillow.

Charming smiled as he knelt beside Emma. He gently stroked her hair and he moved a piece of hair from her face. "Emma, sweetie. It's time to wake up." Charming said softly as he continued to gently stroke Emma's hair.

Emma groaned and slowly opened her eyes only to shut them quickly. "Ugh, the sun isn't even up."

"I know, but we have to start walking now if we want to make it to the castle before dark." Charming said with a chuckle.

"Ugh." Emma groaned, but didn't make a move to get up or open her eyes.

"Emma." Charming said slightly exasperated. "You have to get up. If we make it to the castle, you can sleep in a real bed tonight."

"Are you trying to bribe me to get up?" Emma asked, slowly opening her eyes.

"Whatever will work." Charming said with a chuckle.

"What if the bed wasn't enough?" Emma said with her own chuckle.

"Then I would have to resort to tickle consequences. So what will it be?" Charming asked with a mischievous grin.

"The bed is enough." Emma said quickly, but still didn't move and her eyes closed once again.

"Emma." Charming sighed and then grinned before he started to tickle her.

"Hey, hey! Stop, I am getting up!" Emma said through her laughing. "Please, stop!"

"Are you going to get up?" Charming asked.

"Yes!" Emma laughed. "That's not fair."

"You gave me no choice." Charming said with a grin as he helped his daughter up.

"No one should have to get up before the sun is even up." Emma complained.

"It will be up soon. I am going to go pick some berries for our breakfast. I suggest you get ready to get going. How is your head?" Charming said as ran his hand over the back of Emma's head.

"It feels a lot better." Emma replied. It really did feel a lot better than the night before, it hardly hurt at all.

"Good, now get ready to go, sleepyhead." Charming said as he gently tugged on one of her curls.

Emma rolled her eyes as her father left to go pick some berries.

It didn't take long for father and daughter to be on their way once again. Charming wasn't sure who was still in the Enchanted Forest, but he knew that when they were there that the Wicked Witch's men were all over the Enchanted Forest and as far as he knew her men didn't come over with them. Also some of the Merrymen didn't come over with them. So he knows that there had to be some people left in the Enchanted Forest, he just hoped that they didn't run into any of the Wicked Witch's men. He really wished he had his sword, their guns wouldn't do them much good in the Enchanted Forest.

"So which way is home?" Emma asked with a smirk.

"This way. Now, Emma, I want you to be careful. The Wicked Witch had men roaming around the Enchanted Forest last time we were here and they didn't come over with us when we were cursed again." Charming said as he led the way out of the forest down the hill.

"I'll be fine. You don't have to worry about me, I can take care of myself." Emma said as she rolled her eyes.

"I know you can, but that doesn't stop me from worrying about you, kid." Charming said with a soft smile.

Emma smiled, she doesn't know what to say because she likes that he cares so much about her that he can't help, but to worry about her. It is sweet, but he is being a little overprotective.

"So are we seriously going to have to walk all day?" Emma asked in a whiny voice. She really wasn't looking forward to the long trek they had ahead of them.

"Unless we can find horses." Charming said seriously.

"What? Horses?" Emma said a bit stunned.

"Yes. Horses." Charming said with a chuckle at Emma's surprise and because her voice went up an octave or two.

"But I have never rode a horse before." Emma said quietly. She always wanted to ride a horse, but it wasn't like she ever had the chance to. It was weird to think that if she had grown up here in the Enchanted Forest with her parents she would have ridden horses for most of her life.

"I would help you and I bet you are a natural. Both your mother and I are naturals at riding, it's in your genes." Charming grinned.

Emma smiled, but still was a little unsure about riding horses.

Charming and Emma walked for another 3 hours. Emma was really wanted to stumble upon a couple of horses so that she wouldn't have to walk anymore, but that wasn't there luck. She was keeping up with her father better than she had the other night, but he was still a head of her by quite a few feet. She didn't understand how he just kept going at a fast pace without getting tired. Technically, they were the same age, but he is supposed to be older than her so no matter what, you would think that she could keep up with him.

Emma was lost in her thoughts of the craziness of her family when suddenly a man on a horse that had come to stop in front of her blocked her from following her father. She was shocked at first, but then pulled out her gun, but before she was able to react, the man jumped off the horse and kicked the gun out of her hand. The next she knew, the man had a sword to her throat. She tried to call out to David, but she couldn't seem to find her voice. "Well aren't you a beauty?! Who are you?" the man asked in a dangerous tone.

"Emma Swan. Why do you want to know?" Emma asked rudely, yet confidently.

"No need to be rude, missy. I think I'll just take you with me, you are something to look at!" The man said with a lustful look in his eyes that made a chill go down Emma's spine. She had seen that look before on men and she knew it was dangerous.

"I am not going anywhere with you." Emma stated before kneeing him and pushing him down to the ground. She tried to run, but the man grabbed her leg, which brought her down to the ground.

"You really thought you could get away? You are feisty. I like feisty." The man told Emma with wild look in his eyes.

Emma had to dodge the sword a couple of times as the man swung it at her. Emma ran at full speed towards him and knocked him down to the ground causing his sword to fly into the air. The two tumbled around on the ground for a couple of seconds before the man ended up pinning Emma to the ground. That's when he realized that he had lost his sword during the struggle with the girl. "You are going to wish that you didn't try to run by the time I am done with you." The man said in a creepy voice that sent another chill down Emma's back. The man went to reach for his sword while still holding Emma down, but before he got it he was being pulled off the ground roughly by a set of strong arms.

Once Charming had realized Emma wasn't behind him and he had run as fast as he could back to where he thought she was. When he saw the man pinning his daughter down, he reacted without thinking and yanked the man off his daughter, but not before hearing what the man had said to her. "Don't you ever touch my daughter ever again!" Charming practically growled at the man who he recognized as part of the Wicked Witch's men.

"Your daughter?" The man scoffed as he got loose from Charming's grip and made a dive for his sword. "That's not possible."

"Do I look like I am kidding?" Charming glared at the man before dodging the man's sword.

Emma was stunned for second, not realizing what had just happen then she saw her father fighting with the man. There was something about her father fighting for her that she liked. Especially because there were many times that men like that tried to take advantage of her and she had to fend for herself. Emma watched as her father fought with the man. The man had gotten his sword, but Charming pulled out his gun.

Charming dodged the sword a couple of times before pulling the trigger of his gun, effectively killing the man. He really wished he hadn't had to pull the trigger because the ogres would be able to hear the shot of the gun. Charming ran over to Emma and helped her off the ground. "Are you okay, Emma?" Charming asked, as he quickly looked Emma over, clearly concerned, yet in a hurry.

"Yeah, yeah. I am fine." Emma said quickly. She wasn't actually sure if she was okay because she felt a little numb.

"Okay, we have to go. The ogres would have heard the gun shot, we have to move fast." Charming said as he grabbed the man's sword and then led Emma in the direction they had been going in.

While they ran through the forest, Emma realized that her arm was burning and bleeding. She must have got hurt during the scuffle she had with the man. Suddenly her father stopped causing Emma to almost run in to him.

"Hey, we're lucky, we don't have to walk anymore. Are you ready to ride a horse?" Charming said with a smile. The horse had been spooked by the gun and had wandered away, but now it was settled down enough to ride.

"Ah, I guess." Emma said hesitantly. Her arm was really burning at this point, but she put it aside.

"It will be fine and we will be able to get further away from the ogres." Charming said seeing her hesitation. Charming got on the horse and then reached his hand out to Emma to help her up.

Emma hesitated, but then took her father's hand.

"Ok, put your foot in the stirrup to help yourself get up." Charming instructed.

Emma managed to get up on the horse behind her father and she wrapped her arms around him.

"Are you okay?" Charming asked.

"Yeah, I am fine." Emma said.

Charming and Emma rode the horse for over an hour and they saw no sign of ogres. Charming was pretty sure they had outrun them and should be safe for the time being.

Emma's upper arm was burning from the cut that she had gotten from the man's sword and she wasn't sure how much longer she would be able to hold on to her father with her hurt arm.

"Emma, let's stop for a little while to let the horse rest." Charming said as he slowed the horse to a stop.

Emma got down as best she could and then Charming got down from the horse. He led the horse to the creek that was near by and Emma followed along.

Charming left the horse to drink from the water and then turned back to Emma, who had been really quiet on the ride.

"Emma! You are hurt!" Charming said after he saw her arm was bleeding or at least had been bleeding. He couldn't tell if it was still bleeding. He walked over to her and looked at her arm. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't realize it happen until later." Emma said honestly.

"Well, we need to clean it out, hopefully it isn't infected." Charming said in a worried voice before leading her to sit on a near by rock.

"It's really fine, it hardly hurts." Emma said trying to calm her father down who was freaking out over a little cut.

"No, it's not fine, but it will be. Though, it does look pretty deep, Emma." Charming commented. "We need to take your coat off so I can bandage it up."

"It's really fine. It can wait." Emma said making no move to take her coat off.

"No, it can't wait. It could be infected and we need to do our best to clean out." Charming replied firmly, which left no room for argument.

"Okay, but it really is fine." Emma reluctantly agreed before she tried to take off her coat, which ended up being harder than she expected. "I may need some help…" Emma trailed off; she didn't like asking for help even though she knew her father would help in a heartbeat.

Charming helped her take her coat off and then he found a rag in the saddlebag that were on the horse. He soaked the rag in the creek and then began to gently clean the wound. He knew that it must hurt more than she was letting on to because she kept wincing as he was cleaning the cut. Luckily, in the saddlebag was a clean shirt that Charming was able to tear up and wrap Emma's arm in. "There that should be good for now." Charming said, but he looked worried. He would have to watch her carefully to see if she developed a fever. He really hopes it isn't infected, but if it was he knew some plants that would help get rid of the infection. Charming picked up her coat. "I am going to try to get some of blood off your coat." Charming said as he walked over to the creek to wash off the blood.

Emma nodded and smiled a little at her father's overprotectiveness. It actually felt nice to have him take care of her. She was impressed at how well he adapted to living off the land and she was impressed by his medical skills. It didn't take long for her father to come back with her coat; he looked so worried over a little cut. It was sweet that he was so worried over her.

"Here, Em." Charming said as he helped her put her coat back on. "Didn't I tell you to be carefully?" Charming teased to lighten the mood.

"I was being careful. How was I suppose to know he would appear out of nowhere?" Emma asked as she rolled her eyes.

Charming shook his head. "You didn't see him coming? Or even hear him? What were you thinking about it?" Charming said with a chuckle, normally she was a little more aware of her surroundings.

"I don't remember. I wasn't really expecting anybody to be around." Emma replied. "So how long until we get there?"

"It is going to be at least another 6 hours, but we will have to stop every once and awhile to let the horse rest. But don't worry will get there." Charming said with a smile. "So how did you like riding on a horse?" Charming said with a grin.

Emma couldn't help, but smile, her father's enthusiasm was catching. "I liked it!" Emma said with a grin of her own. She actually was pretty thrilled about riding the horse. She had waited most of her life for that dream to come true. Too bad she hadn't been feeling the greatest on the ride, but it still was pretty exciting.

"Good! I am glad. Well we probably should get going again. Are you feeling okay?" Charming asked looking at Emma with concerned eyes He refrained from feeling her forehead, but he really wanted to make sure she didn't have a fever.

"Yes." Emma said with a sigh. "Seriously, you worry too much." Emma said as she gave her father a look.

"You're my daughter, it is kind of hard not to worry about you. Especially, when you are hurt. You are just going to have to deal with it, princess." Charming said with a smirk.

"Ah, not princess again. You and your nicknames." Emma said with a fake groan.

"You know you like them." Charming replied with a grin.

Emma just smiled because she couldn't deny that she liked them. She just didn't like it when he called her those names in public. Otherwise, she secretly loved that he gave her nicknames. It made her feel special and that she belonged.

"Okay, _princess. _We need to get you back on the horse." Charming gave Emma a hand up from the rock. He then let her get on the horse first and then he got on behind her. He wanted to keep an eye on her in case she developed a fever.

"So are you ready to learn how to ride a horse?" Charming asked with a smile.

"Sure." Emma said nonchalantly, but there was trace of excitement in her voice that she couldn't really contain.

"Okay, first you hold the reins like this." Charming said as he showed Emma how to hold them. "Here you try it."

"Ok." Emma said trying to hold them like her father did. Her dad adjusted her grip on the reins.

"Okay, good. When you hold the reins you want to keep them as steady as possible so that you aren't jabbing the horse in the mouth with the bit." Charming continued to instruct Emma.

Charming continued to teach Emma everything he could about riding a horse and horses in general. Emma realized that riding a horse was more complicated than she had originally thought and keeping your hands steady was not very easy. Your arms get tired from holding the same position and the cut on Emma's left arm was not helping very much.

Charming realized that Emma was getting tired from holding the reins after about an hour of holding them. "I'll take over for a little bit, Em."

"Ok." Emma was relieved that he decided to take over because she wasn't going to admit that she was tired, but she was sore from holding them steady for so long.

Charming smiled because he could tell she was tired by the way her body relaxed after he took the reins.

They rode for about another hour and Emma was starting to feel worse. She didn't even realize it when she leaned back against her father because she was feeling poorly.

Charming was surprised when Emma leaned back, but also worried about her. After about a half an hour of riding, he was pretty sure she had fallen asleep because she was breathing deep, even breaths. He took that as an opportunity to feel her forehead. "Oh, Emma."

**Please Review!**


	4. Patience Needed

**Title: A Family's Faith**

**Disclaimer: **_**Once Upon A Time **_**and its characters belong to Eddie Kitsis and Adam Horowitz and are owned by ABC. Not Mine! **

**Warning: K+ (Fights with swords and guns- minor violence) **

**Author's Note: Chapter 4! Sorry, it's been a long time! I got stuck reading a once fanfiction story that was 42 chapters and I couldn't put it down! But I am back! I hope you like this chapter! Thanks for all the reviews! Enjoy! :) **

**Patience Needed**

"Oh, Emma."

Charming really wished that they were back home with the convenience of medicine, but lucky for them Snow had taught him a thing or two about natural remedies that could be found in the Enchanted Forest. Charming was slightly relieved that she didn't feel to warm, probably a low-grade fever, but he would have preferred it if she didn't have a fever at all.

Charming kept going for another hour, still supporting a sleeping Emma, before stopping by a creek. The horse was tired and he wanted to check Emma's cut.

As they came to a stop, Emma woke up feeling a little groggy and sore from riding on the horse. She wasn't feeling the greatest. She wasn't sure when she fell asleep or how long she had been asleep, but she was hoping that they were already to the castle. "Are we there yet?" Emma said before she opened her eyes. She was pretty sure they weren't there, but a girl could hope.

"No, we are still a ways a way, but we need to stop to let the horse rest." Charming answered with a smile.

Emma groaned softly.

Charming chuckled and got off the horse, making sure to keep Emma steady as he did. "Come on. I think you need to rest too." Charming said softly with a hint of worry in his voice and then he reached up to help her down.

"I don't need to rest!" Emma said as she let her father help her down from the horse.

"You have a fever, Emma, which means that your cut is infected. So you are going to rest while I check your arm again." Charming replied as he led Emma to a nearby tree where he had her sit down.

"I am sure it's fine. And I don't have a fever." Emma said in a whiny, annoyed voice.

"Just because we don't have a thermometer doesn't mean you don't have a fever. And you, my dear, have a fever." Charming said as he felt her forehead once he had her sitting down and leaning against the tree.

"You don't know that for sure. Like you said we don't have a thermometer." Emma said with a cheeky grin.

"I'm not as good as your mother at detecting a fever, but I can normally tell you have a fever without a thermometer." Charming replied.

"You're wrong. I don't have a fever." Emma replied stubbornly.

Charming just gave her look that clearly stated that she did have a fever and that he was done trying to convince her. "I am going to go get some water from the creek. You stay put while I'm gone." Charming said firmly, getting a little fed up with her stubbornness.

"I'm..." Emma started, but stopped when her father turned back and gave her look that shut her up effectively. She gulped because that look was scary coming from her father. She felt a little ridiculous feeling this way when her father gave her that kind of look, especially being as old as she was, but it wasn't something she could control. She just happened to feel rather chastised by that look on her father's face. "I'll stay here."

Charming just gave her a look that said she better stay put and then he left to go to the creek.

Yep, she would have given him gray hair if she had grown up with her parents. No doubt about that. She may just yet give them gray hair. There is a part of her that wants to get up and not 'stay put' because there is a rebel inside of her, but she really doesn't have that kind of energy and from the looks of her father, he doesn't have the energy either or the patience.

Charming had to chuckle at the way Emma had backed down after that look he gave her. He is always impressed that he has a power over her even when she is 30 years old. It must just go with being her father no matter what age she is. The look on her face was priceless when he gave her that look; it made him smile from his victory.

He quickly got the canteen from the horse and filled it with water. He then took the saddle off the horse and brought the horse to the water. Every once in a while, he would glance back at his daughter who looked like she wasn't feeling very well. She was just so stubborn especially when she was sick. It is totally obvious that she is sick, yet she would deny it until she was blue in the face. He was debating if they should just make camp here and continue in the morning. Since her arm was obviously infected, she really shouldn't be moving around too much. He also needed to find some healing herbs to counteract the infection and bring down the fever. The only problem was that they didn't have any cooking utensils to boil water for the herbs. Maybe they needed to go a little ways to a little village that he knew about. He doubted that anyone would be there, but there should be some cooking utensils they could use and some shelter. He walked back to Emma who was trying her best to stay awake. Yeah, they weren't going to make it to the castle tonight, but maybe they could make it to the village.

He poured a little of the water over the cloth he found in the saddlebag. "Here drink some of this." Charming said as he handed her the canteen.

Emma took it and drank from it, but stopped when her dad started to wipe her forehead with the wet rag, which felt good, but if she let it go she would be admitting to being sick. She wasn't about to do that, no matter how she was feeling. "Seriously?" Emma said as she pulled his arm down, effectively getting him to stop with the cold compress.

"Emma, I'm not going to argue with you. You are obviously sick." Charming said as he put the cloth back on her head, but then grabbed her hand and put it on the rag to hold it in place. "I need to check your cut. Let's get your jacket off." Charming said with a soft smile and then started to help her take her jacket off.

"Do you have to look at it? It is probably fine. It was only a few hours ago that you looked at it, it couldn't have changed much since then." Emma said as she rolled her eyes.

"If it is infected, which I'm pretty sure it is, then it would have changed. So yes, I do have to look at it." Charming said firmly as he once again tried to help Emma get her jacket off.

Emma sighed, but took her jacket off with the help of her father. In the process, she took the cloth off her head. David carefully unwrapped the makeshift bandage on her arm. He did it so gentle she could hardly tell he was doing anything. It was sweet that he was taking care of her.

Charming was hoping that it really wasn't infected, but when he uncovered the cut he sighed. There was red around the cut, not too much, but it was infected. He needed to get those herbs on it soon.

"So what's the verdict?" Emma asked sarcastically, yet knew from his face it was infected plus it had got more painful as the time went by.

"It's infected, but lucky for you, your mother taught me some herbs that will get rid of the infection and help bring down your fever. And don't tell me you don't have a fever." Charming said as he did what he could for the cut before wrapping it up again. "So this is what we are going to do. There is a village not far from here that should have some of the herbs I need to treat your cut. Then we can just camp there."

"What? I thought we were going to make it to your old place by tonight." Emma said. For some reason, she couldn't admit that it was her old place or even admit that it was a castle. It was still a little weird for her.

"Well, it was our old place. But, we aren't going to make it there tonight. You need to rest so that we can get this infection under control and get your fever down. It's better if you aren't moving around anyway." Charming replied.

"Oh come on, we can't be that far away, we could still make it." Emma pleaded.

"We are about three hours away, but I don't think it is wise to continue today." Charming said knowing that Emma wasn't going to be happy about it, but he wasn't changing his mind.

"But we could totally make it!" Emma replied, not knowing what time it was, but that it was early enough that they could definitely make it before it got dark.

"It is not about if we could make it or not. It is about you being sick and you shouldn't be traveling with an infection like that. It makes it spread more quickly if you are moving around and you will recover faster if you are resting."

"But..." Emma started.

"No buts. We aren't going there today. End of discussion. Now, I want you to rest until we leave. Why don't you lay down?" Charming said sternly, but softly.

Emma knew that wasn't a question and she was about to argue that she didn't need to rest, but she had a feeling that whether she liked it or not she was going to rest. Her father had that look on his face that meant he wasn't backing down. "Ok." Emma said with a sigh.

Charming sat down by Emma and she laid down putting her head on his leg. Charming took the cloth that Emma had put down and put it on her forehead once again which got him an eye roll before she closed her eyes. She shivered and he realized they never put her jacket back on her so he reached over and got it. He covered her lightly with it. He then lightly stroked her head while keeping the wet cloth on her head. Her fever had gotten higher since he first checked it. The sooner he got her cut treated the better. He was really hoping that he could find the herbs he needed to treat it. He just didn't like it when she was sick especially without the convenience of antibiotics and fever relievers.

After about an hour of letting Emma sleep, Charming decided to get the horse ready while she slept for a couple more minutes. After the horse was ready to go, Charming walked back over to Emma. He was really worried about her and wished that Snow was with him to help take care of her. He really missed her. They worked as a team and he felt like a part of him was missing without his wife with him.

Charming knelt beside her and shook her shoulder to wake her up. "Emma, we have to get going."

"Can we just go all the way to your old place?" Emma asked after she sat up against the tree.

"Emma." Charming admonished.

"Ok, ok." Emma relented.

"Come on, Em." Charming said as he gave Emma a hand up.

Emma felt a little dizzy as she stood up, but her dad was there to steady her. If he hadn't she might have been on the ground again. Maybe she was a little sicker than she thought she was.

Charming helped her to the horse and then helped her get on the horse. He then got on behind her. "Ok, sweetie. Let's go." Charming said as he put his arms around Emma to grab the reins.

It was only a few minutes into the ride when Emma leaned back against her dad. She couldn't help it. She felt so poorly she just couldn't keep herself sitting up by herself. "I'm sorry." Emma said quietly.

"Hey, it's okay, Emma. That's what I'm here for. You don't need to be sorry." Charming said as he held her a little tighter and kissed the top of her head.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Who are you?"

"My name is David and this is my daughter, Emma. You may know of me as Prince James."

Emma could hear her father talking to somebody and it didn't sound like they were being friendly. She gasped as she saw that they were surrounded by men on horses and half of them had arrows pointed at them.

"Your daughter?"

"Yes. I am sure you have heard of the curse the Evil Queen made and the same curse that the Wicked Witch cast again not long ago. My daughter escaped the curse both times." Charming replied calmly. He could tell that Emma was awake because she tensed up against him.

"We know about them. Our leader, Robin Hood was taken during the second curse."

"Yes, I know Robin Hood. He is a very good man." Charming replied, hoping that they would trust them.

"So how did you get back here?" The man asked as he put down his arrow, but the other men kept their arrows pointed at them.

"One of our enemies, King George, tried to send my daughter through a portal. When I went to help her, he pushed us both through." Charming said with a tinge of anger in his voice at King George. "Anyway, we ran into one of the Wicked Witch's men and my daughter has an infected cut. I was hoping to find some healing herbs to treat it." Charming added.

"Lower your weapons." The man said to his men before turning back to Charming. "My name is Adam and we are known as the Merry Men. If you would like to stay in the village, we have extra space. I also know where some of the plants are that you will need for your daughter. I can get one of my men to get some for you."

"We would appreciate that. Thank you, Adam." Charming replied.

It didn't take long for them to reach the little cabin that the Merry Men said they could stay in until they were ready to continue on their journey. Charming climbed down from horse and then helped Emma down from the horse.

"You should find everything you need in there. Marcus will bring you the plants you need as well. If you need anything else just let us know." Adam said.

"Thank you. I am sure we will be fine." Charming replied kindly.

Adam nodded his head and walked away.

"Let's get you inside, Emma. How are you feeling?" Charming asked quietly with a hint of worry in his voice.

"A little weak and tired." Emma admitted.

Charming was surprised he got a truthful answer. He was all prepared for an "I'm fine" response. "Well hopefully you will be feeling better soon." Charming said as he walked her up to the cabin and opened the door.

It was a small cabin with two beds, a fireplace, and a table, but it had all the necessary supplies. Charming got Emma settled down in the bed and found a pot to boil water in along with some clean pieces of cloth to rewrap her arm in once he treated it.

"Emma, I'm going to go get some water. I'll be right back." Charming said as he felt her forehead.

"So are these people good?" Emma asked a little weary of these men who had them surrounded just a few minutes ago.

"Yes, they are. If they weren't I wouldn't have stopped here." Charming said sensing her worry.

""Do you still have your gun?" Emma asked.

"Yes, but I won't need it. Anyway, guns don't work here as well as swords and bows do." Charming said with a chuckle, realizing that she was worried about him, not necessarily herself.

"A gun is a gun. It works rather effectively no matter what world you are in. Also your gun did take care of the man earlier." Emma started to ramble.

Charming just shook his head. "I'll be back in a minute." Charming said as he bent down and kissed Emma's forehead before leaving the cabin in search for water.

Emma was worried about her father. She didn't quite trust these men even though her father seemed to trust them. She had no good reason not to trust them besides that they held them up and that they were strangers. She didn't exactly trust people very easily anyway. She wasn't about to go to sleep until her father was back in the cabin.

It was about ten minutes later and he still wasn't back yet. Emma was starting to get worried about him. If he didn't come soon she was going out there to find him, if only she had her gun. "He is going to kill me." Emma murmured as she got out of the bed a few minutes later.

Emma walked slowly over to the door using the table to support her weight. She was weaker than she thought she was without the support of her father. She finally got to the door and opened it up. She leaned against the door frame feeling her energy spent, but she was worried about her father.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Charming had found some water and Marcus had given him the plants that he needed to treat Emma's cut. He talked for a little bit with Adam and Marcus about what had gone on in the Enchanted Forest since Charming had been there last. The Merry Men had been busy fighting off the Wicked Witch's men and the ogres when they came across them.

"Well I need to get back to my daughter, Emma. Thank you for all your help. We appreciate it." Charming said as he picked up the bucket of water.

"No problem. We are glad to be able to help." Adam replied while Marcus nodded.

Charming walked back to the cabin to see his daughter leaning against the door frame looking rather pale from the fever. "Emma!" Charming yelled as he ran up the stairs of porch and sat the bucket of water down before catching Emma before she fell to the floor. "What are you doing out of bed?" Charming said in an exasperated voice as he brought her back inside.

"I was worried about you, you were gone for a long time. We have to stick together. I am not sure if I trust these people." Emma said as she let her father her led her back to bed.

"Emma, these Robin Hood's men. We can trust them, but of course we will stick together. Right now though, you need to stay in bed so that you can get better. You don't need to worry about me, I'll be right here with you. Okay?" Charming said with a smile.

"Okay. I guess I trust you." Emma teased with a cheeky grin.

"You guess? Oh Emma. What am I going to do with you?" Charming teased as he shook his head.

Emma rolled her eyes and then gave her father a 'charming' grin that she inherited from him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Charming had got everything ready that he needed to treat the cut. Emma had fell asleep while he got everything ready and it probably would be a good thing for her to be asleep when he treated her cut. The only problem was that she still had her jacket on.

He started to carefully take her jacket off without waking her up, but she started stir after her started to take it off.

"What are you doing?" Emma asked in a groggy voice.

"We have to take your jacket off, Em. Can you sit up for me?" Charming said with an apologetic smile for waking her up.

Emma sat up with the help of her dad and then he helped her slip the rest of her jacket off. After he got her jacket off, he had her lie back down and he unwrapped the bandage from her cut.

"How does it look?" Emma asked in a quiet voice, not sure if she wanted to know or not.

"It looks…okay." Charming lied, he didn't want to worry her, but it had gotten worse.

Emma nodded, even though she wasn't sure, but it seemed like he was lying about it. She wasn't going to call him on it, though because she didn't really want to know the truth.

"Don't worry it will be okay." Charming said and then did a couple of things before coming back over to Emma. "Okay, Emma. This is probably going to hurt, but if you listen to my voice it may keep your mind off of it."

"That doesn't sound good." Emma replied. "Are you going to tell me story?" Emma added with a smile. She loved hearing stories from her parents especially about their past.

"Yes. I thought you would like to hear about the time your mother taught me about healing herbs when we were trying to take back the kingdom. We were in a fight with some of King George's men that had come after me. We were able to defeat them pretty easily, but your mother managed to get a cut like yours but on her leg." Charming said as he put the hot rag on her cut, which caused her to jump at little. "So she taught me all about the different herbs. The good ones, the bad ones, and everything there was to learn about herbs. She described the healing herb that we needed to find to get rid of the infection. We found one of her old hiding places that she used when she was running away from the Regina. I had to practically carry her most of the way because we didn't have horses and she couldn't walk. She is stubborn like you though and she never admitted to how much her leg hurt, but I could tell that she was hurting. You two are so much alike." Charming finished as he wrapped up her arm in a clean strip of cloth.

"Stubborn? I am not stubborn." Emma teased as she rolled her eyes.

"Mmm hmm. Right. Okay, that should be good until later. Now, you just need to drink this tea. It will help bring down your fever and help with the pain." Charming said as he helped her sit up and gave her the cup. "Drink it all, it will help."

Emma took a sip of it and grimaced. "That tastes weird." Emma complained. "It doesn't hurt that bad." Emma added as she tried to hand the cup back to her father.

"Oh no. It's not an option, you have to drink it." Charming said as he pushed the cup back towards her.

"Mom wouldn't make me drink this stuff." Emma complained.

"Seriously? You think she wouldn't make you drink it? Are we talking about the same woman? Because your mom would definitely make you drink it especially if there wasn't anything else to use to bring down your fever." Charming said with a grin.

"Did she complain about it when she had to drink it?" Emma asked.

"Yeah, she did, but she drank it anyway and it helped. Now drink it and stop trying to distract me." Charming said with a smirk.

Emma grimaced before taking another sip of it, then she made a disgusted look after she managed to swallow it. "Ugh. So gross! Do I have to…" Emma started to complain.

"Emma, drink it." Charming said sternly, but really trying to keep back a chuckle at Emma's face after swallowing the tea. It was so much like Snow's face when she had to drink it. It was really funny, but it also made him miss Snow.

"You miss her, don't you?" Emma asked seeing the sad expression that crossed her dad's face.

"Yeah, I do, but we will back in no time. Our family will be back together again." Charming said with a sad smile.

Emma nodded, she missed them too. She took another sip and made another disgusted look at the taste. "Did you ever have to drink this stuff?" Emma asked with a grimace on her face.

"Of course I did, but it wasn't the only remedy for a fever so there was a couple more pleasant options available normally." Charming said, hoping she wouldn't catch the lie in his answer.

"You haven't ever had to take this stuff, have you?!" Emma asked in a high-pitched voice.

"Well, actually no, I haven't." Charming admitted.

"If you have never taken it, then I am not!" Emma blurted out.

"Emma, it's the only thing we have to bring down your fever. I would take it if I needed to." Charming argued.

"This isn't fair!" Emma complained.

"What are you two? Drink the tea, Emma Ruth!" Charming said sternly.

"Emma Ruth? You are serious, aren't you?" Emma teased.

"Yeah, don't make me break out your whole name. Drink your tea, it's getting cold and from what your mother told me it is worse when it's cold." Charming said with a smirk.

Emma groaned, but drank more of the disgusting tea.

It seemed like it took Emma forever to drink the tea, but she finally finished it. Charming was trying really hard not to laugh every time she took a sip of the tea and made that face. It was so cute the way she looked exactly like Snow. He wished that she could see their daughter making these faces.

"Ugh. I am done. I can't believe you made me drink that stuff." Emma said as she gave Charming the cup back.

Charming smiled as he took the cup back and put it on the table. "Now, Emma Ruth Swan, it's time for you to get some sleep." Charming said in a kind, gentle voice as he helped her lay down on the bed.

"Oh, crap. My whole name, you really are serious this time." Emma teased with a smile on her face, but her eyes were starting to close.

"Yeah and you better listen." Charming said with a chuckle, before kissing her forehead. "Sleep well, princess."

"Ok, dad." Emma mumbled as she fell asleep.

**Please Review! **


	5. Connected

**Title: A Family's Faith**

**Disclaimer: **_**Once Upon A Time **_**and its characters belong to Eddie Kitsis and Adam Horowitz and are owned by ABC. Not Mine! **

**Warning: K+ (Fights with swords and guns- minor violence) **

**Author's Note: Chapter 5! This is a pretty long chapter, but I didn't think you guys would mind! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! :) Thanks for all the reviews, favs, and followers! They make me smile! :) Enjoy! **

**Connected**

"How many times do I have to tell your_ charming_ family? Without a portal, you can't get to another world, dearie." Rumplestiltskin replied with an annoyed grimace.

"I know that, but somehow King George had a magic bean or something that created a portal." Snow said as calmly as she could.

"Maybe you should go talk to him then and stop wasting my time." Rumple replied.

"I can't talk to him because we can't find him." Snow said in an exasperated tone.

"Rumple, isn't there something you could do to help them?" Belle asked as she slipped her arm into his.

"I wish there was, but without a portal I can't do anything." Rumple answered Belle a little softer. Rumple then turned to Snow, "I will however help you find King George." Rumple informed Snow.

"Thank you. Bye Belle." Snow said with a sad smile before leaving the shop.

She kept coming to dead ends and she was starting to get discouraged. She tried talking to Regina, but besides saying she would try to help find King George, she didn't have anything to help. She did seem genuine in her attempt to help get Emma and David back, but there wasn't anything she could do to get them back. Neal hadn't had any luck finding King George even with the help of his father. Neal had offered to stay with Henry and Leo while she went to go talk to Regina and Rumple. She hated that she was returning with nothing accomplished, but she was at a loss of what to do until they could find King George.

**STORYBROOKE**

"Grams! Did you find anything out?" Henry asked as Snow came in the door.

"Not really, Henry. I think our best bet is finding King George and figuring out how he sent them through." Snow informed.

"And we will find him. I'm headed over to my dad's shop to go look again for him." Neal added as he handed Snow, Leo who had fallen asleep in his arms.

"Thanks Neal. Be careful. Did he give you any trouble?" Snow asked, speaking of Leo.

"No, no. He was great. It is nice being around a baby, I never got that chance with this one." Neal said as he gave Henry a side hug. "See ya later, buddy."

"Bye, dad!" Henry replied. Henry could tell that his grandma was discouraged and upset about not getting any help from Regina or Rumple. Henry could remember when he was feeling discouraged with Snow and Emma were stuck in the Enchanted Forest and Gramps was able to encourage him. He wanted to do the same for his grandma. "We are going to get them back, Grams. Either they will find us or we will find them because that's what our family does, right?"

"Yes, we do, Henry." Snow said with a couple of tears in her eyes. Henry was so intuitive and considerate it just touched her heart.

"Knowing Gramps, he is doing everything he can to get back here. When you two were in the Enchanted Forest, he never stopped looking for you guys." Henry said in an excited voice.

Snow smiled at how proud Henry was of his grandpa and at how much faith he had in Charming to get home. "You know your mom will be trying hard to get home, she never stopped trying to get home when we were there. I am sure she is doing the same this time." Snow said with a grin.

"Geez, just imagine those two together, they will be home in no time!" Henry exclaimed.

"Yes, I am sure they will be, but you're forgetting that we won't stop either. I know that your grandpa told me that you never stopped trying to get us home." Snow said catching Henry's enthusiasm.

"And you Grandma, you won't stop looking either. With all of us working to find each other, nothing is impossible." Henry said and then he hugged Snow.

"You are right, Henry. We will find each other, we always do." Snow said softly and she believed that they would find each other.

**ENCHANTED FOREST**

"Emma, sweetie." Charming gently woke up Emma. She had been sleeping for the last couple of hours and Charming wouldn't have woken her up if he didn't have to.

Emma groaned and slowly opened her eyes. "What?" Emma mumbled.

"One of Robin Hood's men brought us some stew for dinner. You haven't eaten since breakfast and I want you to try to eat some of this stew." Charming said with a smile as his daughter struggled to keep her eyes open.

"I am not hungry." Emma mumbled and closed her eyes.

"Hey, don't fall back asleep. You need to at least try to eat a little bit of the stew, okay?" Charming said as he shook Emma's shoulder to keep her awake. "Here, I'll help you sit up."

"You are too persistent." Emma grumbled as her father made her sit up.

Charming chuckled and got the bowl of stew that he prepared for Emma. When he turned back to Emma, she had her eyes closed and her head was leaning on her shoulder. "Emma, don't fall asleep yet. After you eat you can go back to sleep, okay?"

"Okay." Emma said slowly, drawing out the word.

"Here, you go." Charming said as he gave her the bowl of stew and a spoon. Then he sat on the chair next to the bed and ate his own stew.

"There isn't anything weird in here is there?" Emma asked as she stirred her stew while she looked in the bowl intently.

Charming smiled and looked down as he tried not to laugh at his daughter's serious expression as she inspected her stew. "Emma, it's just beef and vegetables." Charming watched as relief washed over Emma's face and then he chuckled softly.

"Ugh, vegetables. Why does there always have to be vegetables?" Emma complained and then she took a small bite of the stew.

"Don't let your mom hear you say that. She is all about the vegetables." Charming said with a grin.

"I know. She tries to get me to eat them all the time." Emma said with a groan and took another little bite of her stew. She was feeling a little nauseous, but she was also hungry. She didn't want to push herself too much so she just picked at the stew taking a small bite every once in awhile. She didn't want her father to start bugging her about not eating it. She hardly was eating it, but he didn't need to know that.

"It's because they are good for you. You know how she worries about your eating habits." Charming chuckled.

"I still don't like them." Emma stated as she picked at her food again.

"Emma, stop picking at your stew and eat it. We need to get something in you." Charming said after a few minutes of watching Emma push her stew around in the bowl.

"I am eating it." Emma said as she put a small spoonful in her mouth.

"Emma, this is the first bite you have had in the last couple of minutes. I want you to eat at least half of that bowl." Charming said firmly.

"That's so much. How about one-fourth of it? This is a bigger bowl than normal bowls." Emma tried to compromise with her father.

"It's a normal size bowl and you still have to eat half of it. You should eat all of it." Charming said seriously.

"One-third?" Emma asked with puppy dog eyes. "Please."

"Emma." Charming said in a disapproving tone as he tried to stay strong against those eyes. "Half of it."

Emma thought about trying harder, but her dad looked pretty set on half of it so she gave up for now. "Okay." Emma relented with a grimace as she started to eat more of her stew.

Charming was being to develop a picture in his head of what a little Emma would have looked like when she was told she had to eat her vegetables. She would probably stay at the table for a really long time suffering through eating what she didn't like. Right now, she was taking forever to finish half of the bowl of stew and it took about three times the amount of time it took him to finish his bowl and he ate all of it.

When Emma finished 'half of the bowl,' she handed it to her father. Charming set the bowl on the table and then turned back to Emma. "How are you feeling, Em?"

"Fine." Emma said quickly and without thinking about it much.

Charming rolled his eyes, but then felt Emma's forehead with the back of his hand. He frowned. "Hm, do you think you could stay up for a little while longer?" Charming asked, thinking that he needed to get her fever down.

"Yeah, I can." Emma wasn't as tired as she was when she first woke up and even if she was tired she would have tried to stay up anyway.

"Good." Charming said as he started to make some tea for Emma.

"So how are we going to get back?" Emma asked when her father turned back to her.

"I am not sure, but we will get back. I have no doubt about that." Charming replied.

"I am sorry, if I had been paying attention, I wouldn't have gotten this cut and we would have been already there. Then we could have been working on going on home." Emma said as she looked down at the blankets.

Charming's heart broke at how she blamed herself for something that was out of her control. "Emma." Charming said softly as he lifted her chin to raise her head up. "This wasn't your fault, sweetie. There isn't anything you need to be sorry for."

"I know." Emma said, but look a bit down still.

"Emma, we are going to get back to them. I will always find my family." Charming said as he looked into Emma's eyes.

"This is my fault too. I should have watched King George better. It's not like I haven't had someone throw a magic bean at my feet before. I should have been able to get out of the way sooner. And if anything, it should have only been me that had gone through the portal. You should be with your family and not me." Emma replied really feeling guilty for causing them to be separated again from their family. It also separated her new brother from his father.

"Emma, you are apart of my family and there was no way I was going to let you go through alone. You are my daughter, Emma, and both your mother and I love you so much. Why do you think King George choose to try to send you through a portal?" Charming replied, knowing that Emma had been holding on to some insecurities since the new addition into their family. She did not like to talk about it even though Snow and himself had try to talk to her many times over the last couple of months, but she would always avoid them.

"I was just an easier target. And come on, if he could have gotten Leo, he would have. And what am I to you guys? Just a reminder of everything you missed and everything I missed. Now you guys have everything you always wanted, why would you need me?" Emma said sadly, but sarcastically.

"Emma.." Charming started, but was cut off.

"Can we not talk about this right now?" Emma said feeling awkward that she brought up the subject. She was feeling a little more emotional from being sick and wasn't even sure if she totally believed everything she was saying. Also the last thing she wanted to do was hurt her dad or her mom that is why she kept ignoring and avoiding the conversations that they kept trying to have with her.

"Okay, but Emma. You mean everything to us. We love you and never want to be separated from you again." Charming said, hating that Emma didn't fully understand how much they loved her and how devastated they would be if they lost her. Even though, he would have preferred to talk this out, he knew that Emma was done with the conversation. Charming kissed her forehead before giving her a little space as he finished making the tea.

Emma took a deep breath after her father turned away. She was glad that he wasn't pushing her any further. She was feeling emotional and if they kept going she probably would end up crying, which she wasn't about to do tonight. She suddenly wondered why her father wanted her to stay up, but then realized what he was doing. She couldn't control the groan the slipped past her lips. "You want me to drink more of that tea, don't you?" Emma frowned.

"Yes, your fever is still high and we need to get it down. The tea will help bring it down." Charming said seriously, but a smile coming to his face. There was a reason he didn't mention the tea right away.

"But it's so gross." Emma complained.

"I know. I heard all about it earlier." Charming said with a cheeky grin. He wasn't planning on arguing with Emma over the tea.

"Then you know it's gross and you shouldn't make me drink it." Emma said with a smug expression.

"Good try, but you still have to drink it." Charming replied with an apologetic smile as he handed her the mug of tea.

Emma reluctantly took it with a scowl on her face, but had a feeling she was going to lose the fight over having to drink the tea. Not that she wasn't going to complain and try to get out of drinking it, but she felt like the battle was already lost.

Charming somehow got Emma to drink all of the tea, but it wasn't without a struggle. By the time Emma finished the tea, she was looking rather exhausted. Charming took the mug from her hand and set it on the table. He could tell it wouldn't be long before she fell asleep, but he wanted to leave the night on a good note with a story.

"Can I have some water?" Emma asked, interrupting Charming's thoughts.

"Of course." Charming said. "I'm going to go get some fresh water from the well outside. I'll be right back."

"Oh you don't have to if you have to go outside. It's fine." Emma replied, not wanting to be a burden to him.

"It's fine, Emma. I don't mind and you need to be drinking water anyway." Charming said and then he left the cabin.

It only took him a couple of minutes before he was back with the water. He poured her a glass of water and brought it over to Emma. She was looking even more tired than before he left. "Here you go, kiddo."

"Thanks." Emma said with sleepy smile.

"No problem." Charming replied as he sat down on the chair next to the bed. "Do you want to hear about how your mother and I meet?"

"Sure. I mean I have read the story in the book, but it would be nice to hear it from you." Emma replied with a shy smile.

"I was riding along in the carriage with Abigail who I was trying to make pleasant conversation with, but she was just complaining about everything and anything. I never wanted to marry her, but I was being blackmailed by King George to marry her."

"Wait. What? He was blackmailing you to marry her? I don't remember that part in the book." Emma asked.

"I thought you read the book?" Charming asked with a chuckle.

"I did, but I just skimmed some of the parts. Plus I read it before forgetting everything and those memories are still a little hazy at times." Emma explained.

"That makes sense. Well, King George and King Midas were merging the two kingdoms through our marriage. King Midas had promised King George gold for having me, his son, slay the dragon. When King Midas offered Abigail to me, I tried to tell him that I couldn't marry her, but King George told me that if I didn't marry her he would destroy my farm and kill my mother. He also told me that I would ruin the kingdom and consequently many lives within the kingdom." Charming continued.

"I still don't get the whole you're his son, yet you aren't his son thing." Emma asked thoroughly confused.

Charming chuckled and wondered if he would ever get to the part when he actually meets Snow because of all the interruptions by his daughter. "Well, you know about my twin brother, Prince James, right?"

"You have a twin brother? Where is he?" Emma asked. She had totally missed that part of the story.

"Yes, I had a twin brother that I didn't know about because my father made a deal with Rumplestiltskin. My brother went to King George and became his son. King Midas wanted my brother to slay a dragon, the same one that I slayed later, but he ended up dying right before. Therefore King George called on Rumple to help and Rumple found me. I was to act like I was Prince James and slay the dragon, which they never really expected me to do. The other men were going to slay it and then just act like I did it."

"What? You didn't slay the dragon then?" Emma asked, wondering if she was too tired to hear this story because she was sure that the book showed him slaying the dragon.

"I wasn't finished. I did slay the dragon after the attempts of the men I was with had failed. Anyway, back to the story of how I met your mother." Charming said in a bit exasperated.

Emma giggled.

"What?" Charming asked with smile.

"Sorry, 'how I met your mother' is a show. Go on." Emma replied.

"Ok, so we were on this road and the carriage stops which makes Abigail complain more. I got out to check what was wrong and that's when I went to look at the fallen tree. I noticed that it hadn't fallen on its own, but someone purposefully cut it down to block the road. That's when I heard, Abigail scream from carriage because your mother had stolen my jewels from the carriage. Snow had jumped on a horse and galloped away with my jewels so I jumped on the nearest horse to follow her. I caught up with her and managed to tackle her off her horse and onto the ground. I told her to show her face and when I saw her face I was stunned because of two different reasons. One being that she was a girl and I just assumed it was a man I was chasing. And when I said she was a girl, she quickly corrected me saying she was a woman. Then she proceeded to hit me with a rock giving me this wonderful scar." Charming said as he pointed to his scar on his chin.

"I remember that from the book, but what was the second this reason you were stunned you only mentioned one reason." Emma asked. She was curious to know the stuff that wasn't in the book.

"The second reason why I was so stunned was because she was so breathtakingly beautiful." Charming replied as he thought about the moment when he first laid eyes on Snow.

"That is so unbelievably cheesy!" Emma said with a smile. She did think it was cheesy, but she also loved it because she could tell that her father was serious. She really loved hearing stories from her parents, but at the moment she wasn't sure she was going to be able to keep her eyes open much longer. She yawned, but then smiled again as he father continued.

Charming chuckled at Emma's response, but then continued with the story. "So your mother jumped on the horse and starting riding away. As she was riding away I yelled at her 'You can't hide from me. Where ever you are I will find you.' I remember after I yelled that she looked back and gave me the cutest smile. I was a little annoyed that she stole my jewels from me especially because it had my mother's ring in it, but there was something about her that caught my eye from the beginning. That is why I went after her in the first place was to get the ring back that she had stolen from me. I didn't plan on falling in love with her on the troll bridge." Charming paused and looked at Emma who had become rather quiet. Charming smiled as he realized that Emma had fallen asleep so he decided to continue the story another time.

Charming gently took the glass of water out of Emma's hand and put it on the table. He then pulled the covers down on the bed before he gently picked up Emma and laid her down on the bed.

"I'm still listening." Emma mumbled as he moved her down in the bed, but didn't open her eyes.

"It's okay, Emma. Just go to sleep, I'll tell you the rest of the story tomorrow." As he talked he covered Emma back up in the covers so she wouldn't get cold.

"Goodnight, Emma." Charming said quietly and then he kissed her forehead. "I love you."

**ENCHANTED FOREST**

Something wasn't right. As she woke up, she was trembling from chills and she knew it was because of her fever. Normally, it wouldn't worry her, bur for some reason she was starting to panic because of it. Maybe it was because they were in the Enchanted Forest without regular medicines, but she didn't feel right. It must be the middle of night because it was pitch dark besides the fire that was almost out. She could almost make out the bed on the other side of the room where her father was sleeping.

Emma closed her eyes trying to calm the panic that was rising in her. She couldn't stop shaking and she felt so cold like she would never warm up again. She opened her eyes and glanced over to her dad, willing him to wake up. Instead of calming down, she started to panic more and felt the need to go to him. Before she really thought about it, she was climbing out of bed and on her way over to her dad.

"Dad." Emma said as she trembled from the chills she was getting from her fever. "Dad, please wake up." Emma said as she shook his shoulder.

Charming was surprised to wake up to see a pale Emma shaking and looking panicked. "What's wrong, baby?" Charming said in a tired, yet panicked voice as he brought her down to sit on the bed.

"Sorry, I…just…something isn't…right. Can't stop….shaking." Emma struggled to tell her dad.

"Hey, hey. It's okay, I've got you." Charming said as he felt her forehead. "Oh you're burning up, Emma. We need to get you back in bed." Charming said as he got off the bed and picked Emma up in a fireman's hold to bring her back to her bed.

Charming put Emma in bed and pulled the covers over her. He grabbed a couple of extra blankets that he found in the cabin and used them to cover up Emma as well. She was shaking from the chills and he was worried about her. He was about to go stroke the fire since it was practically out when Emma grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Please don't leave. I am scared." Emma admitted.

"Oh honey, I am not leaving you and I'm going to take care of you. You have nothing to worry about." Charming said as he sat on the edge of Emma's bed. Before he realized it, Emma had sat up in bed and wrapped her arms around his neck to hug him.

Emma was surprised by her own reaction to what he said. She didn't even give herself the okay to just let herself hug him, but she was glad that she did. It helped her relax when he hugged her back, slowly rubbing her back as he did.

"It's okay, Emma. I've got you." Charming murmured as he held Emma close for a few moments until she calmed down.

After Emma settled down, Charming quickly stroked the fire and got a cold compress for Emma. She was still shivering even under all the blankets he managed to pile on top of her. He looked at Emma's cut and decided that he needed to treat it again with the herbs. "Emma, honey, I need to treat your cut again."

"Ok." Emma replied with a frown as she looked up at him with sad, feverish eyes.

"It will be over quick, sweetie. I promise." Charming said as he touched her face gently with his hand before getting up to get what he needed.

Emma glanced down at the cut on her arm it looked pretty bad. It was swollen and red from the infection. It looked a bit scary and she was a little worried about it.

"Are you ready?" Charming asked, noticing Emma looking at her arm with a scared look in her eyes, which threw him for a loop because she was always so strong and fearless with everything and to see his daughter afraid shook him to the core. She nodded her head to his question. "Emma, it's okay. I am going to get your better. A similar thing happened with your mother when she cut her leg. I took care of her and got her better. It will be fine." Charming said firmly and confidently.

"Ok." Emma replied. She looked into his eyes and saw that he was telling the truth. She knew she could trust her dad.

"Ok, let's get this over with so you get back to sleep, kiddo." Charming replied, looking at Emma lovingly.

"Yeah, just do what you need to do." Emma agreed as she nodded her head.

"That's my girl." Charming said proudly as he focused his attention on her arm.

Emma watched her father as he worked on her arm. He was so focused on it and extremely gentle. She watched as he got the hot rag that he soaked in the water with herbs. She was the never the person to look away when she was getting a shot, she preferred to see what was happening to her. So it didn't come as a surprise to her when her dad put the rag on her arm, but it did cause her to jump as it stung.

"Sorry, but it should help draw out the infection. Tomorrow, I'll make some salve for it." Charming said with an apologetic smile.

"It's okay." Emma said with a smile. She continued to watch as he wrapped her arm up. He ripped the end of the cloth and tied it up around her arm. "Thanks." Emma said in a tired voice, only shivering a little now.

"Anything for you, sweetie." Charming replied as he covered her arm back up with the covers. "Are you feeling any better?"

"A little." Emma replied.

"Good. Well, I'll let you sleep then. Rest will help your get better faster." Charming said trying to give Emma some space.

"Um, do you think….I mean….you can…stay…if you want." Emma replied feeling slightly embarrassed about not wanting him to leave her just yet.

"Of course I would like to stay." Charming said as he sat on the bed and leaned against the headboard. As soon as he did, Emma sat up a little and leaned against him seeking his comfort. Charming put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. He pulled the covers up to make sure his daughter was covered since she was still getting the chills every once in awhile.

Father and daughter stayed like that for over an hour. Emma slipped off to sleep soon after, but Charming stayed awake keeping an eye on his daughter as she slept. Her fever was still pretty high and he knew it would take a little bit for the herbs to work on her infection, but he wasn't about to leave her alone with such a high fever. Although, he would have loved to stay and hold his daughter he didn't want her to get a cramp in her neck from how she was laying against him. He gently got off the bed and made sure Emma was comfortable. Then he got a cold compress ready, sat down on the chair by the bed, and put the cold compress on her forehead.

It was about three in the morning and Charming was dozing in the chair when he woke up to Emma mumbling in her sleep as she moved her head back and forth on the pillow. Charming quickly soaked the compress and started wiping away the sweat that covered her forehead. He took off some of the blankets that he had put on her to cool her down.

He wasn't sure what Emma was dreaming about in her feverish dreams, but his heart did a double take when he heard her mumble two different words. _Daddy. Mommy. _Most of what she was mumbling didn't make much sense to him, but those two words did. He tried his best to soothe her by tracing circles with the tips of his fingers on her forehead and cheek while murmuring comforting words to her. "I am here, Emma. Daddy's here." He was surprised when his soothing efforts actually worked and she started to sleep a little more peacefully.

Charming kissed his daughter's forehead as she slept and then whispered quietly to her, "I am going to get you better, sweetheart, and get you back to your mommy. I promise."

**STORYBROOKE**

She wasn't sure why she suddenly woke up when it was completely silent in the house, but she got up to go check on both Henry and Leo. She went to check on Leo first, who was sleeping soundly. He was super cute as he slept with his little thumb in his mouth. After a few minutes of admiring her little son, she made her way to Henry's room. Henry was sprawled out on the bed sleeping peacefully. She fixed his covers so that his feet were covered and then bent over to kiss his forehead. She tipped toed out of the room closing the door behind her. She walked downstairs to the kitchen and for the first time she realized it was about 3 in the morning. Why did she wake up so suddenly with the feeling that someone needed her? She filled the teapot with water and put it on the stove as she mulled over why she woke up when it was obvious that no one needed her here. That's when it hit her like a ton of bricks, it wasn't Henry or Leo that needed her it was Emma that needed her. She knew it, something was wrong and her daughter needed her. Snow gripped the side of the counter as she started to panic, thinking about all the possible things that could have happened to her daughter. Emma could be injured or sick or even separated from her father. Or the witch's men could have gotten her. There were just so many things that flooded Snow's mind of what could have happened to her daughter to make her need her. Snow took a deep breath as she tried to calm herself down. Her husband was with her, he wouldn't leave her for a minute, She knew that and if she was hurt or sick Charming knew everything to do to help her get better. Her husband would take care of their daughter, it was just so hard to think that her daughter needed her and she wasn't there to be with her. Snow suddenly stood up straight and took another deep breath to calm herself down. It would be okay. This would just make her more motivated to find her daughter and her husband, to get them back to where they belong. Her daughter would be okay, she knew that, but it still broke her heart knowing that Emma needed her.

"It's okay, Emma. I'll get you back here. I'll find you. I promise, baby, I promise."

**Please Review! **


	6. Mistrust and Hope

**Title: A Family's Faith**

**Disclaimer: **_**Once Upon A Time **_**and its characters belong to Eddie Kitsis and Adam Horowitz and are owned by ABC. Not Mine! **

**Warning: K+ (Fights with swords and guns- minor violence) **

**Author's Note: Chapter 6! OUAT is a week away! So excited, I can't wait! Anyway, I wasn't sure what to name this chapter. :/ Thanks for the reviews, I enjoy getting them! I hope you like this chapter! Enjoy!:) **

**Mistrust and Hope**

Emma blinked slowly as she took in the light that was coming into the cabin. She wasn't sure how long she had slept, but for some reason she felt tired and achy despite the sleep.

The cabin door opened and her father came in with a bucket of water. "Hey, your up. I was wondering when you were going to wake up." Charming said as put the bucket of water down and walked over to Emma.

"What time is it?" Emma asked in a tired voice.

"It's about one in the afternoon." Charming replied.

"What? We have to get going." Emma said as she started to push the covers off.

"Oh no you don't. You have to stay in bed." Charming said as he pushed her gently down and covered her back up with blankets.

"But we have to go. Why didn't you wake me?" Emma asked.

"Because you needed to sleep. Your fever just broke a little while ago. We aren't going to the castle today. You need to rest to get your strength back." Charming said calmly as he checked Emma's forehead.

"But I am fine." Emma complained in a low whiny voice.

He gave her a look that clearly said "seriously." Then he went and poured some water for his daughter. "Here you go, baby." Charming said without thinking about it, and then he held his breath realizing what he just said. He was waiting for one of Emma's walls to go up. He really didn't mean to say 'baby' it just rolled off his tongue.

Emma took the cup of water from her father, but then realize what he just said. It was weird because she liked it, but didn't want to really bring it up so she acted like she didn't hear him. But it reminded her of the dream she had the night before. It was a weird, yet interesting dream that she had. It was a dream of her living with her parents in the Enchanted Forest as if the curse never happened.

_Emma was 4 years old living with her parents in the Enchanted Forest. Snow was on a trip that involved kingdom business and was due back the next evening. Charming on the other hand was busy in a meeting that couldn't be canceled which left little Emma in the care of Johanna. Snow and Charming preferred to take care of Emma themselves, but since they were running a kingdom there were times when it was not avoidable to have to leave her with someone else. Johanna was the most trustworthy in their eyes so normally Emma was put in the care of Johanna. This was one of those times both Charming and Snow were occupied with kingdom business. _

_Emma missed her mommy. She had been away for a couple of days, which was way too long in Emma's eyes. It felt like forever for the little girl. Her Daddy was in a meeting, but she want to be with him so she decided to sneak into the meeting. If she was really quiet, she might be able to sneak in without anyone knowing; she just wanted to be near him. _

_She could hear her Uncle Grumpy yelling at the round table and then her father saying something back. They were all so focused on the meeting that no one noticed a little girl crawling across the floor to the table. She squeezed through two of her father's men to get under the table so that she could crawl over to where her father was sitting. _

"_I think we may have a visitor…" Granny said with a chuckle after she felt something brush against her leg and then saw a little Emma under the table. _

"_What do you mean?" Charming asked._

_Granny motioned under the table and Charming looked under the table to see his sweet little girl with her baby blanket laying at his feet. "Emma, why aren't you with Miss Johanna?" _

_Emma shrugged her shoulders. "I miss you and mommy. And she was going to put me to bed." Emma replied as she clutched her baby blanket. _

"_Why was she going to put you to bed?" Charming asked, thinking it was a little early for a nap. _

_Emma shrugged her shoulders again. "She said that I was sick, but I didn't want to go to bed. I wanted to be with you." Emma answered with a sad expression that was enough to make Charming's heart melt. _

"_Come here, baby." Charming said as he held his arms out for Emma. Emma promptly got up from the ground and went into her Daddy's arms. Charming picked her up and put her in his lap. "Do you not feel well?" Charming asked as he felt her forehead with the back of his hand. _

_Emma nodded her head. "I don't feel so good, Daddy." Emma replied as she leaned against her father's chest. _

"_That's probably why Miss Johanna was going to put you in bed. You really shouldn't have left her. She probably is worried about you." Charming reprimanded in a gentle voice. _

"_I know, but I just wanted to be with you. Can I just stay here with you? I'll be good I promise." Emma pleaded giving her famous puppy dog eyes. _

_Charming knew he couldn't say no to Emma when she gave him that look and when she was sick. Plus he knew Emma was missing her mommy so telling her she had to leave him wasn't something he could do. "Okay, you can stay for a little while, but then we are going to get Doc to look at you." Charming said as he spread Emma's baby blanket over her. _

"_Thank you, Daddy. You're the best!" Emma exclaimed as she hugged her Daddy._

"_Your welcome, baby." Charming replied as he hugged Emma back. He loved Emma's hugs, no matter how many he got from his precious little girl, he could never get enough of them. Charming kissed her forehead that was warmer than normal before looking over at one of his men. "Would you mind sending someone to tell Johanna where Emma is so that she doesn't get worried about her." Charming asked. _

"_Yes, sir." The guard said before leaving to do the King's bidding. _

"_Thanks." Charming replied._

_Emma snuggled closer to her father and tried very hard to keep her eyes open. It only took a few minutes before her eyes drooped closed and she fell asleep against her father's chest. _

_The meeting went on, a little quieter than normal for the sake of Emma, for the next hour as they finished up talking about the reminder of the topics that they had planned to discuss. Emma slept through the rest of the meeting, against her father's chest with her little thumb in her mouth and her baby blanket wrapped around her along with another blanket. She had started shivering during the meeting and Charming had one of the guards get another blanket for her. _

_Charming carefully carried his daughter up to his and Snow's room thinking that it might be better if he could keep an eye on her throughout the night. He sent for Doc who showed up soon after he got to the room. He assured Charming that she would be okay after a few days of rest. She was running a fever and had a cold. The Doc gave instructions for Charming and told him he would be back tomorrow to check on her. _

_Throughout the rest of the day and night, Charming stayed by Emma's side keeping her as cool as possible and soothing her with words of comfort. _

"_Daddy." Emma cried out through her fever dreams. _

"_I am here, Emma. Daddy's here." Charming soothed Emma. _

"_Mommy." Emma cried out again, this time for her mother. _

"_It's okay, baby. Mommy will be home soon." Charming comforted his daughter. "Mommy and Daddy love you so much and we will get you better again." _

"Emma." Charming said for the third time as he tried to get Emma's attention.

"Yeah." Emma answered as she was brought back to reality. The dream had been so realistic and unlike anything she had ever dreamed about.

"You were miles away. What were you thinking about?" Charming asked as he could see Emma thinking about something.

"I had a dream the other night and I was just thinking about it." Emma answered.

"Was it a good dream?" Charming asked. He wondered if it had anything to do with what she had said in her sleep the other night.

"For the most part it was." Emma replied. She probably dreamed about it because it was very similar to the situation they were in now besides the fact that Snow was coming home the next day.

"What was it about?" Charming asked, hoping that Emma would open up to him. She had been doing a little better about opening up to them, but there were still sometimes when she would shut down completely when they asked a personal question.

Emma hesitated wondering if she wanted to share her dream with her dad. It was a very cute dream and he may actually like hearing it, but it was a little embarrassing that she was dreaming about being a little kid again.

Although Emma pretty much convinced her self that she didn't want to tell her father her dream, it came out anyway surprising both herself and her father. "It was about us, but I was younger, about four, and we were living in the Enchanted Forest." Emma began.

Charming was very interested and touched that she dreamed about living with them in the Enchanted Forest. He was also very surprised that she was sharing something so personal with him. He didn't dare say anything when she paused not wanting her to stop telling him about her dream.

Emma continued telling her father about her dream, who was so intent as he listen to her. She could tell he was enjoying her dream because he didn't get to spend time with his little girl at that age or any other age for 28 years.

"Did your mother ever come back in your dream?" Charming asked after Emma finished telling about her dream. It was a cute dream despite that Emma was sick in it and Snow wasn't in it. He imagined that something like that could have happened if the curse hadn't happen.

"No, but she was suppose to the next day. It ended before she got back and before I got better." Emma said feeling a little sad because it would have been nice to see her mother even if it was in a dream.

"That's sad. You will have to tell me if you dream about it again." Charming said with a smile, happy that Emma shared it with him.

Emma nodded. She was feeling rather tired after retelling her dream to her father and was starting to nod off.

Charming could tell Emma was still tired and not feeling the greatest, but he needed to get her to eat something and drink some more of the tea that Emma loved so much. While she had slept, he had made some salve for her cut and treated her cut again. Adam had given him so food for Emma and himself so he didn't have to worry about finding any.

"Emma, I know you are tired, but I want you to try to eat some of this. Also I need you to drink some of this tea that you like so much." Charming said with smile.

"I thought my fever broke? Why do I need to drink more tea?" Emma asked, hating the idea of drinking more of the disgusting tea.

"It will help you get better faster." Charming said as he gave her the tea and some food.

"You know, you really shouldn't make me drink tea after what I went through with tea." Emma said trying to get out of drinking the tea by making her dad feel sorry for her.

"What do you mean? What did you go through with tea?" Charming asked, having no clue what his daughter was referring to.

"Oh. You never heard about what happen to me and Mary-Margaret before the curse was broken." Emma realized.

"What happen?" Charming asked, feeling slightly worried even though it was done and over with.

"Well, when I found out that Mary-Margaret escaped jail, I went to look for her." Emma started.

"Wait. She escaped jail?" Charming asked in a surprised voice.

"Yeah, Regina had left one of her skeleton keys in the cell for her to find so that she would escape. Anyway, I went looking for her, hoping I could find her and bring her back before Regina found out at the hearing. Anyway, it was the middle of night and I was a little tired."

"A little tired? You were dead on your feet for over a week. You were exhausted." Charming interrupted, remembering that even as David Nolan he was worried about Emma. He remembered that she was working so hard to prove Mary-Margaret's innocence and every day she looked even more tired than the day before.

"Okay, I was exhausted. I accidentally ran a guy off the road who hurt his foot in the process, or so I thought."

"You probably shouldn't have driven being as tired as you were. You should have called me I would have helped you." Charming interrupted Emma.

"But, I didn't know you were my dad than or Mary-Margaret's husband. Anyway, I drove him home and helped him inside. I was about to go, but he offered me tea and showed me a map of Storybrooke. Oh and I had told him I was looking for my dog, Spot. Anyway, I drank the tea, which made me feel really dizzy so he laid me down on the couch. Right before I passed out, I realized that he didn't have a limp and that I had been set up by this man, but by the time it was too late. I woke up later to find that he had tied me up, but it was really easy to get out of it. I got up and went to the door. I saw him in the room across from the one I was in and he was sharpening scissors. I slowly made my way down the hall until a board creaked under my feet. I went into the room I was near and when I turned around I saw Mary-Margaret tied to a chair. I untied her quickly and we both snuck out of the room. When we turned around, Jefferson was pointing my gun at us. He made me re-tie up mom and then had me come with him. That's when he tried to get me to make a hat for him which I quickly realized that he was suppose to be the Mad Hatter, even though I didn't really believe him or Henry at the time. I finally made the hat, but it still didn't work. I acted like I believed in him, saying that I would try to make the hat work again, but then I hit him over the head with his telescope when he turned to go get the hat. I ran back to mom and untied her again, but before I knew it Jefferson was back and he tackled both of us to the ground. We struggled for a while, but then he ended up getting my gun again. Mary-Margaret hit him in the head with a croquet mallet and kicked him out of the window, which was very impressive. It was weird when he fell out of the window he disappeared. Only the hat was left." Emma finished.

"Wait so Jefferson, the Mad Hatter, kidnapped my wife and daughter? I am going to kill him." Charming said, as he comprehended what his daughter just told him.

"Whoa, calm down. He was desperate to find a way to be with his daughter. He didn't hurt us." Emma replied.

"Uh he drugged my daughter and pointed a gun at her more than once. He least deserves a couple of punches to the face." Charming said still mad at the thought of his wife and daughter being held by Jefferson.

Emma thought it was cute how he kept referring to her at his daughter and that he was being over-protective once again. "Thanks, but its okay at least on my part. But I wouldn't mind punching him for kidnapping mom even though technically he saved her life." Emma said thoughtfully.

Charming chuckled. "No problem, princess. But, I think I will punch him for the both of you anyway."

Emma rolled her eyes at the nickname and her father's overprotectiveness over her. "So I don't have to drink the tea right?" Emma said hopefully with a charming smile.

"Sorry, kiddo. I'm afraid you will have to drink this tea." Charming said with smirk. "But, maybe you shouldn't drink other people's tea." Charming added.

"But I'm traumatized." Emma complained and gave her father a fake a terrified look.

"For some reason, I don't believe you." Charming replied with a chuckle at his daughter's exaggerated expression.

"Oh come on, _Daddy, _please don't make me drink it." Emma said with a puppy dog face.

Charming sighed. "That is low and I would fall for it if it wasn't about your health. I will, however, make you a deal."

"What's that?" Emma asked, suspicious of what he was going to offer.

"This will be the last time you have to drink the tea unless your fever comes back." Charming said.

"Okay." Emma resigned. She thought it was good to know that putting her puppy dog face with using _Daddy _is very effective if her health isn't involved.

"Good. Well, I have to go find Adam. He wanted to talk to me about something earlier." Charming stated.

"Are you sure we can trust them?" Emma asked still a little weary of these new people.

"Yes, baby." Charming said with a kind smile.

"_Baby? _Seriously? I am not a baby." Emma said with a smile.

"But you will always be my baby." Charming said with a grin.

Emma rolled her eyes. She wasn't going to admit, but she liked it. "Just don't use it in public." Emma sighed.

"Can I use any nicknames in public?" Charming said with chuckle.

"Hm. You can use Em, but none of the others." Emma said seriously. "You have a lot of nicknames for me." Emma realized.

"I'm making up for lost time." Charming said with smirk.

Emma nodded with a smile.

"While I am gone finish eating and drink your tea. I won't be gone long." Charming said.

"Just be careful." Emma said in a worried voice.

"I will, but there is no need to worry." Charming said as he patted Emma's head with his hand. He turned to leave, but then turned back. "And stay in bed this time." Charming added firmly.

Emma couldn't promise that she would because if he was gone for too long she would definitely get out of bed. She nodded anyway just to show him that she heard him.

"See you in a little bit." Charming said before he left the cabin. Charming wasn't totally convinced that Emma would actually obey him and stay in bed. He would make sure that he wasn't gone to long so that she didn't get worried and try to look for him. He didn't quite understand why she was so worried about him and so weary of these men. He hadn't found anything that would make him not trust them.

He didn't want to get Emma hopes up, but Adam said he would ask around about a way for them to get back home. It sounded like they may have found something or at least know of something that they could try. If they ended up not finding anything than there was no harm done, but if there was something that could help them get home that would be great.

"Adam. Did you find anything out?" Charming asked as he approached Adam and some of his men.

"I found one thing that could or could not be helpful. There is a legend of a ring that can be used as a portal that may be able to get you home." Adam answered.

"That would be great. Where is it suppose to be?" Charming asked.

"It is suppose to be in the mountains in Seven Gales." Adam replied.

"If it has been there why has no one gone to look for it?" Charming asked knowing that it had to be harder than it sounded. It always was.

'"Well there is a dragon that is guarding it. The legends say that it is like no other dragon." Adam answered.

"Of course. Well it is a good thing that both my daughter and I have fought dragons and won." Charming replied a bit sarcastically. He didn't really like the idea of Emma fighting a dragon. He didn't like that she had already had to fight a dragon, but he was proud of her.

"Your daughter has slayed a dragon?" Adam asked slightly in awe.

"Yes, she has. Right before she broke the curse she slayed a dragon with my sword." Charming said proudly.

"Wow, I am impressed. Well if you need anything, let me know." Adam said.

"Thanks. We will probably head out for my place tomorrow morning and get the supplies we need before heading to Seven Gales." Charming said.

"We have a spare horse if you would like to use it." Adam offered.

"That would be very helpful. Now, I probably should get back to my daughter. Thank you for all your help." Charming said as he shook Adam's hand.

"It's our pleasure, David." Adam replied in earnest.

Charming nodded and started to walk away.

"Adam, have you seen Richard?" Marcus yelled.

Charming turned back hearing the panic in Marcus voice. "Who's Richard?"

"He is new to our camp. He has been with us for the last month, but we like to keep an eye on him. We don't quite trust him, but I am sure it is nothing." Adam replied.

"Okay, well if you need help let me know." Charming said, not liking the idea that Emma might be right about at least one of these men. She did have a unique sense for detecting whether someone was lying and whether she could trust them or not.

"If you wouldn't mind helping us look for him, that would be great." Adam replied.

"Of course." Charming replied. He felt like he owned them for helping Emma and himself. He was happy to help them for a change.

Adam gave Charming a quick description of the man in question before they parted ways to look for the man.

***ENCHANTED FOREST ***

Emma had finished as much as she could of the food and a majority of the tea that her father kept making her drink. She was still working on it, but it was cold and her mother was right it was worse cold than it was warm. Her dad had been gone for quite a while and even though she knew he could definitely take care of himself, she was still worried about him. She just felt like something was off. Not with all the men, but maybe a few of them. She trusted the guy named Adam and the other guy Marcus, but she remember one man from the other day that seemed a little off. It was probably nothing, but she would still feel better when it was just the two of them again.

After finishing the disgusting tea, she was rather exhausted and decided to close her eyes for a few minutes as she waited for her father to get back. When she felt herself start to drift off to sleep, she quickly woke her self up. She wasn't going to fall asleep until her father was back.

Emma must have fallen asleep because the next thing she knew, she was waking up from the door from the cabin shutting. Emma figured it was her dad getting back from talking to Adam. She looked over to see a man who was clearly not her father, but the man she remember from before.

"What do you want?" Emma asked wearily as she sat up in bed, scanning the room for something to defend herself if she needed it.

"Let me introduce myself first before we talk business. My name is Richard and you are going to help me." Richard said with an evil smirk on his face.

"Why would I help you?" Emma asked. She didn't appreciate it when people told her what she was going to do. She was her own person and she didn't take orders for anyone else with the exception of her parents (and sometimes not even them sometimes).

"Because you won't have a choice." Richard said as he started to walk towards Emma.

**Please Review!**

**Author's note: Emma's dream is something I thought of that would have been cute if she grew up with them in the Enchanted Forest. :) I thought it would connect well with what she said the night before in her sleep and what is going on in the story. :) Thanks for reading this chapter! :) **


	7. Totally Worth It

**Title: A Family's Faith**

**Disclaimer: **_**Once Upon A Time **_**and its characters belong to Eddie Kitsis and Adam Horowitz and are owned by ABC. Not Mine! **

**Warning: K+ (Fights with swords and guns- minor violence) **

**Author's Note: Chapter 7! Sorry this took so long to get to you! I had it finished earlier this week and I lost half of the chapter! I had to rewrite it! Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. It's dedicated to my Dad who if he was still alive would have turned 58 last Thursday. Thanks for all the reviews! Hope you enjoy this chapter! Enjoy :)**

**Totally Worth It **

**Storybrooke 6 hours earlier….**

Snow did not sleep well after she woke up with the feeling that Emma needed her. Everytime she tried to sleep she would start thinking about how Emma needed her and she would become so worried that she couldn't fall asleep. After a few hours of trying to sleep, Snow got up and started to clean. Whenever she was at a loss of what to do she would clean. It helped her sort out her problems as she worked.

She needed to get her family back, but how was she going to help them? She thought back to when she and Emma were stuck in the Enchanted Forest. They were able to get the compass and the ashes from the wardrobe to get home. They didn't have the compass or the ashes anymore so that would be of no help to them. There wasn't any magic beans left that they knew of, but King George had to of used something to create portal. They needed to find him. If they could find him, then maybe he had another way to create portal. But was there anything else that could be helpful from her and Emma's trip to the Enchanted Forest? Snow kept pondering over everything that had happened while they were there and the events that lead to them getting back to Storybrooke. She was able to wake up Charming from the sleeping curse that he willingly had undergone to help his wife and daughter get home.

Snow stopped cleaning as she realized that she had a way to communicate with her family – the sleeping curse, the fiery room. She just had to find a way to get into a deep sleep so that she could go there again. It was definitely worth a try.

Snow was excited. It was the first real lead she had since her daughter and husband had gone missing. Even if she just got the chance to see Charming and know that they were okay, it would give her the strength to keep looking for them. She was going to get her family back. Somehow, someway, they would be together again. She had faith that they would find each other like they always did.

*****ENCHANTED FOREST *****

"Why would I help you?" Emma asked.

"Because you won't have a choice." Richard said as he started to walk towards Emma.

"I always have a choice." Emma said as she got out of the bed. She knew she didn't have all her strength, but it wasn't in her genes to not put up a fight.

Richard chuckled, "Not this time."

Emma made a run for it and tackled Richard to the ground. Although, she was able to tackle him, she wasn't able to keep him pinned to the ground. She soon found her self pinned to the ground instead.

"Well that went well, Emma." Richard taunted as he kept her pinned to the floor.

"I am not done yet." Emma replied right before she kicked him and pushed him off of her.

Emma got up and ran over towards the door, but Richard got there first blocking her way. So Emma punched him in the face, but then Richard punched her back causing her to fall to the ground. Before she had a chance to get back up, Richard had his sword to her throat.

"I wouldn't move, darling." Richard whispered.

Emma could feel the blade starting to dig into her neck. "What do you want from me?" Emma said in a low, angry voice.

"What? Are you giving up?" Richard said with a chuckle.

"I never give up. What do you want from me?" Emma asked again.

"You are going to slay a dragon for me." Richard stated.

"And why would I do that?" Emma asked in slow, but angry voice.

"Like I said before, You won't have a choice." Richard said before he hit Emma over the head, knocking her out cold.

*****ENCHANTED FOREST*****

"I found no trace of Richard, Adam." Marcus said as he met Adam, Charming, and a couple more merry men who had searched for Richard.

"Neither did I." Adam said quickly. "Maybe he went out hunting. Let's just keep an eye out for him."

"Will do." Marcus said and the other men nodded their heads in silent agreement.

Adam turned back to Charming, "Thanks for your help. I am sure it is nothing, but just keep a look out for him." Adam said.

"I will. I better get back to Emma, she is probably wondering where I am." Charming said, hoping that Emma didn't try to go and look for him when he didn't come back right away.

"Of course." Adam replied with a smile.

Charming quickly walked back to the cabin. He really didn't expect to be away that long. He was hoping the Emma fell asleep and didn't realize how long he had been gone. When Charming reached the cabin, he heard voices coming from the inside the cabin. One of them was distinctly Emma's and the other voice was a man's voice that he didn't recognize.

Charming bursted through the door to see Emma knocked out on the floor with a man who had recently been holding a sword to Emma's neck from the looks of the cut on Emma's neck. Charming drew his sword preparing to fight this man.

"Get away from my daughter!" Charming said in a low, deadly voice.

The man swung around with his sword ready for a fight.

Charming and Richard started to sword fight until Richard lost his sword and ran from the cabin. Charming started to follow him, but he wasn't going to leave Emma. Instead of leaving her, he called out to some of the merry men telling them what Richard just did. They then went after Richard.

Charming ran back inside to his daughter, who was starting to stir from being knocked out. "Emma, Emma." Charming called as he knelt by Emma on the floor.

Emma groaned as her hand went to her head.

"Are you alright?" Charming asked as he moved Emma so that she was leaning against his legs.

"Yeah, just have a headache." Emma replied.

"What happen?" Charming asked as he looked at Emma's head and then at the cut on her neck.

"He wanted me to help him slay a dragon." Emma said wondering why the man wanted her to slay a dragon in the first place.

"Oh I see." Charming said, knowing what the man wanted: the ring.

"What? Do you know why he wanted me to do that?" Emma asked knowing that her father knew something from the look on his face.

"I just found out before they found that Richard was missing that there is a ring being guarded by a dragon in Seven Gales. The ring is thought to be able to be used as a portal. Adam told me about it, thinking it could be a way for us to get home." Charming explained as he picked Emma off the floor and carried her to the bed.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Emma said right after her father placed her on the bed. She tried to get up, but Charming stopped her.

"Whoa. We can't go right now." Charming replied with a chuckle.

"Why not?" Emma asked quickly as she tried to get off the bed again, but was prevented by her dad once again.

"For one, you are hurt. For two, you are still recovering from the infection, and third, it is just about dark outside." Charming said sternly. Emma relaxed under his touch. "We will get to the ring, but it's going to take some traveling. We will go to the castle tomorrow and get ready to go slay the dragon and get the ring. But tonight, we are staying here so you can recover."

Emma sighed. "Okay." He made some good points and she really did not have the strength to do much at the moment.

"You're bleeding." Charming said as he grabbed a cloth to dab at the cut on his daughter's head.

Emma winced as her father cleaned the cut on her forehead. She had a killer of a headache and she felt like sleeping so she closed her eyes.

"Emma, honey. You can't fall asleep yet. You may have a concussion." Charming said as he gently rubbed her arm.

"But it hurts and I am tired." Emma complained as she opened her eyes to look at her father.

"I know. It will just be for a little bit so that I can make sure you are okay." Charming replied softly as he looked at the cut. "Are you hurt anywhere else?" Charming asked, but then saw the cut on her neck from the sword. It wasn't deep and he really hoped it wasn't affected.

"No, I am fine." Emma replied.

"Fine, right." Charming smirked as he took care of the cut on her neck. "Did you drink all the tea?' Charming asked.

"Yes." Emma replied with a disgusting look on her face.

Charming gave Emma an apologetic look. "Good. Hopeful that will help." Emma looked exhausted and he could tell that her head was hurting from the way she was wincing every once in a while. He put a cool, wet cloth on Emma's forehead hoping it would help ease the pain of her headache.

"That feels good." Emma admitted quietly as she closed her eyes again.

"The cut on your neck doesn't look deep, but we will have to watch it. And I don't think you were out for too long so you probably don't have a concussion, but I want you to stay up for a little while longer." Charming said as he fixed the blanket so it covered Emma better.

"I am not sure how much longer I can stay awake, Dad." Emma said as she opened her eyes.

"Maybe this will help." Charming said as he lifted Emma up a little and positioned himself to sit behind her on the bed. Then he leaned her against him so she was sitting up, but leaning against him. "Now we are going to play the question game. I'll ask you a question then you can ask me a question." Charming said with a smile.

"Okay." Emma said slowly, not sure she would actually like this game, but she trusted her dad.

"What's your favorite color?" Charming asked, with a chuckle. He wasn't planning on asking her personal questions. He just needed to keep her awake and he didn't want to pry.

Emma gave a soft chuckle before answering "red. My turn?" Emma asked.

"Mm Hm." Charming nodded.

"Ok. If I would have grown up with you guys, would you have let me get a puppy?" Emma asked with a hint of excitement in her voice.

"Yeah. If you wanted a puppy, You would have had one." Charming said with a chuckle.

"Good, I always wanted a puppy." Emma replied.

"Did you ever have any pets?" Charming asked.

"Not really. One of the homes had a cat, but I hated it and I am pretty sure it hated me. I called it my nemesis. Oh. One of the places had a dog that I really liked, but I wasn't there for very long." Emma said sadly. "My turn! Did you have any pets?" Emma asked.

"Emma. I lived on a farm. I had lots of pets." Charming said with a chuckle.

"Ok. Ok. Let me rephrase my question. Did you have a favorite pet?" Emma asked.

"Yes. I had a dog named Jake. He was a very loyal dog and he would always give me this annoyed look. I loved that dog." Charming answered.

"Hm. I thought it would have been your horse." Emma said thoughtfully.

"I did have a favorite horse, or still do." Charming replied.

"You still have it?" Emma asked.

"Yeah, it's back home at the stables." Charming informed Emma.

"Interesting. I didn't realize that they came over with the curse." Emma replied.

Before Charming could reply, Emma asked excitedly, "I can I meet him? or her?"

"It's a him and yes, you can meet him." Charming answered with a smile.

"What's his name?" Emma asked.

"Phillip." Charming answered. "But, I think it is my turn to ask a question. What was your favorite subject in school?"

"I would say English, but not the grammar part. I liked reading the stories. It gave me a way to escape life for a little while. I liked history too because of the stories, but it depended on what era we were studying." Emma answered. "How did you go to school?" Emma asked wondering what it was like to go to school in the Enchanted Forest.

"Well my mother taught me till we got a school in our town." Charming answered with a smile.

"Wait so you went to a one-room schoolhouse like in Little House on the Prairie?" Emma said in awe.

"What? What's that?" Charming asked obviously confused.

"It is a TV show and they had a one-room schoolhouse. You really need to catch up on you TV knowledge – at least the basics. You think after living in the real world you would know what Little House is." Emma started to ramble.

"Hey, I was in a coma for the majority of the time while I was there. I wasn't watching any TV. I didn't even know about TVs." Charming explained.

"Yeah, Yeah. Excuses, excuses." Emma laughed. "My turn again!"

"Uh no. It's my turn." Charming said with a grin. "How did you do in school?"

Emma hesitated, which didn't go unnoticed. "I was an average student. I probably would have done better if I applied myself more. It also depended on the subject. I tried to keep my grades average because most foster parents did not like it if they had to come in for a meeting because your grades were low. I learned that the hard way when I was in second grade. I tried not to get into trouble, but there were times that I couldn't control my temper. When I was in 7th grade, I got into trouble in gym. I hated gym class, but that was because I was a bit uncoordinated. Anyway, the other kids would normally make fun of me because of how bad I was in gym, but I normally would just ignore it. One day we were playing soccer which I wasn't too terrible at and one of the girls started teasing me about the way I was playing. Then she started to talk to me about who she believed my parents were and how I was an orphan. I normally would have just ignored her, but I wanted to believe that you guys were good. So I punched her twice before the gym teacher came over to stop me. Then she brought us to the principal office and called my foster parents who were not very pleased to be getting a call from the school. They were furious with me when they realized that I was suspended from school for a week. They made me stay in my room the whole week so that they didn't have to see me or deal with me." Emma finished, not realizing that she just spilled her guts to her father.

"Were there any other foster kids with that foster family?" Charming asked slowly hoping that Emma wouldn't put up a wall.

"I had a foster-brother who was in 10th grade named John. Then they had a son of their own that was in 11th grade named Anthony and he picked on me all the time. John tried to stand up for me, but it normally just got him in trouble so he stopped trying after a while. It wasn't worth it."

"If it was me, it would have been worth it." Charming said. He liked that she had someone to look out for her there, but he didn't like that he stopped trying to protect her. She was worth any trouble if it meant keeping her safe.

"You don't understand. It wasn't worth it because our foster dad would beat him. I told him that it wasn't worth it, I wasn't worth that trouble. Normally, we would both get in trouble anyway when he would try to help me. At least I would be the only one the got in trouble." Emma replied seriously.

"It would have been worth it to me and I am sure it was worth it to him." Charming said softly.

"That's because you are my dad, but I could handle it. I didn't need him to stick up for me." Emma said confidently.

"So tough." Charming said with a chuckle, even though it made him sad that at so young she had to be so tough.

"I had to be tough. I learned not to cry when I got beat because it normally made it worse." Emma said, but then felt her father tense behind her. "Anyway, I wasn't worth it."

Charming hated the thought of any one touching, let alone hurting his baby girl. He also didn't like that Emma didn't feel like she was worth the trouble to protect. She was worth any trouble if it meant keeping her safe and sound. He held his girl a little tighter as he felt the need to keep her safe, even though no one was trying to hurt her at the moment.

"Emma, I am sorry you went through that. You didn't deserve to be treated that way. And Emma, you are worth any kind of trouble." Charming said softly.

Emma sat up and turned to face her father. "It's not your fault. You couldn't have done anything about it." Emma said, not wanting her father to blame himself for things that were out of his control.

"I know, but I am never going to like the idea of anyone hurting my girl. And I will never put up with it from anyone." Charming replied seriously as he cupped Emma's chin in his hand.

Emma quickly wiped a tear from her face before she unexpectedly hugged him surprising herself and him. "Thank you." Emma said softly into his shirt.

"No need for thanks, kiddo. I will always love you." Charming said as he held Emma to his chest with one hand cradling her head, like he always did.

Charming held Emma in the hug for a little while longer, both of them enjoying the comfort of each other. After the silence, Emma felt her exhaustion and her searing headache come back in full force.

After another moment, Emma pulled out of the hug and settled back against her father. "Can we be done with question game? Maybe you could just tell me a story?" Emma asked shyly.

"Yeah, that would be fine. What story do you want to hear?" Charming asked with a smile, but then felt Emma's forehead, which to his relief was only a touch warm. He was pretty certain that Emma did not have a concussion so if she fell asleep it would be okay.

"Can you tell me about what it was like to go to school in the Enchanted Forest?' Emma asked with a hint of excitement in her voice.

Charming grinned. He thought it was cute that she was so interested in what it was like for him to go to school, but it also made him feel old for some reason. "Sure, but why does this make me feel old?" Charming asked with a grimace.

"Um because you are old. You went to a one-room schoolhouse, in the real world you are really old if you were around to go to those kinds of schools." Emma said as she laughed, but then stopped when it caused her head to hurt more. She winced and put her hand to her head.

"I am not that old." Charming reached over and grabbed the cloth out of the bowl of water and put it over Emma's forehead to help with her headache.

"You have a 30-year-old daughter and how old were you when the curse hit?" Emma asked. She was touched that her father knew exactly what she needed.

"28." Charming answered.

"So technically you are 58. Yeah, that's old." Emma figured out with a chuckle.

"That's not fair. I was in a coma for half of my life." Charming said with a chuckle.

Emma just laughed, but then yawned.

"Okay. So you want to hear about school in the Enchanted Forest? There was about 15 to 20 kids in the school varying from age 5 to 15. I was 9 years old when the school opened. We didn't have a lot of school supplies, but over the years the school received more books and supplies. Although, I wasn't the worst student I tended to daydream a lot in class if I wasn't causing trouble with my friends. I liked being outside more than I liked being inside. There was a few times that I skipped school with one of my buddies to go fishing. Sometimes we would get away with it, but there was a few times where the teacher happened to run into one or both of our mothers in town. Those weren't the happiest nights." Charming reminisced.

"I ditched school or a couple of classes a lot when I was in school." Emma admitted.

"Emma." Charming scolded.

"What? It was okay for you to skip school and not me?" Emma asked.

"I never said it was okay, just that I did it." Charming said with a chuckle.

Emma rolled her eyes, but then began to wonder if her mother ever skipped school. "Did mom ever skip school?"

"Well, she didn't go to a school like I did. She had a personal tutor so skipping her classes would have been very noticeable. Although, I wouldn't put it past your mother to have skipped her classes to go out in the woods to shoot her bow and arrows, but you will have to ask her about it when we get home." Charming said with a grin at the memory of Snow.

"So both of my parents were homeschooled at some point or another." Emma stated with a chuckle.

Charming wasn't sure why Emma thought that was so interesting, but he like it when she admitted that they were her parents. "Anyway, there was this one time when our teacher had to go take care of her mother in another town so we had a substitute for over a month. His name was Mr. Kraut, which we later name Mr. Sauerkraut. He was a really mean teacher and after a week of enduring Mr. Sauerkraut some of the boys and I decided to get revenge. We started pranking him everyday. Each of us picked a day that we would prank him on and we picked out pranks we wanted to do. One day one of the boys put ink in his satchel so that when he reached into the bag to get our graded papers, his hands would be covered in ink. He asked us who did it and none of us admitted who it was so he just picked someone he thought it was to punish. It wasn't the actually person that did it, but it was one of the boys from our group so we let him take the fall. Another day, one of the boys put tacks on his chair and boy was he mad. He always would pick the wrong person to punish for the prank, but it was really funny to see who would get in trouble from our group for the prank they didn't actually do." Charming said with a chuckle.

"Did you ever get blamed for a prank that you didn't do?" Emma asked, but then yawned towards the end of her question.

"Yeah. One of the boys drew a picture of Mr. Kraut on the chalkboard with Mr. Sauerkraut written next to it. For some reason, he was convinced that I drew the picture, but I think it was because I didn't realize what the prank was until I got to school and saw it on the chalkboard. I was laughing pretty hard and he knew I could draw some."

"Did your parents every find out what you guys were doing?" Emma asked.

"Yes. He would send a note home to the parents of the one he thought did the prank. It became a game to us to see who would get in trouble for someone else prank, but we all took it because we all did a prank at one point or another." Charming replied.

"Did you do a prank?" Emma asked.

"Yeah, I did two different pranks. I got to school really early and put a snake, a harmless snake, in his desk drawer, which my friend got in trouble for which was hilarious to me. The other was a different story, yet really funny and totally worth it." Charming said as he laughed from the memory.

"What? What did you do?" Emma asked curiously, but her voice sounded tired which didn't go unnoticed by her father.

"I was able to catch a skunk and I let it loose in the schoolhouse which was a big risk considering it could have sprayed us all. I let it loose during recess and I tied it to the leg of the teacher's chair. It was a miracle that I didn't get sprayed by it. Anyway, luckily the skunk did spray Mr. Sauerkraut, but then it went downhill from that. He blamed one of the younger boys who was not involved in our pranks and Mr. Sauerkraut was furious. I couldn't let the little boy get in trouble for something I did so I admitted it was me and took the punishment for it. My mother was furious when she got the letter home that night and this time I didn't have the excuse that I actually didn't do the prank because this time it was me." Charming chuckled again. "Anyway after about a week and half of pranks, Mr. Crout happened to overhear us discussing what our next prank would be. He called a meeting with the parents of the students who had been involved in the pranks at school. It was decided that we would have to come to school on the next two Saturdays to write lines for the whole morning and then of course we all had punishments given to us by our parents." Charming finished quietly thinking Emma was probably asleep.

"What did you have to write?" Emma asked through a yawn in a really tired voice.

"I had to write 'I will not bring snakes or skunks to school. I will not prank my teacher.' We all had the last sentence, but depending on what we did we had something different. They were long Saturday mornings that we could have been fishing, but we were stuck writing lines in a stuffy school. Although, I absolutely hated writing lines, being confined to the farm, and doing extra chores I never regretted pulling the pranks with my friends not that I would have ever admitted that to my mother." Charming continued to talk, but kept his voice low so that Emma would fall asleep. "You will have to ask your mother what it was like being 'homeschooled,' I am sure she would love to tell you when we get home." Charming paused waiting to see if Emma was still awake when he didn't hear a response he smiled softly.

Charming looked down to see that Emma was indeed asleep. He kissed the top of her head before he gently lifted her up so that he could slide out from behind her so that he could lie her down on the bed. She must have been sleeping soundly because she didn't wake at all. Charming made sure his daughter was covered by the blankets before he kissed her forehead. "Goodnight, baby girl."

**Please Review! **

**P.S. Hope this tide you over for the new episode of ONCE coming on tonight! :) Couple of hours to go! **


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